Depressing news for Chinese soccer fans: the national side was knocked out of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. This story is the lead of headline of most Beijing newspapers today.
From Xinhua:
China thrashed Hong Kong of China 7-0 in their last World Cup qualifiers on Wednesday, but it was not enough to keep them in the contention for a berth of the 2006 World Cup finals.
As Kuwait, who leads China by a goal difference of two going into the last round, beat Malaysia 6-1 at home in the other game which was kicked off at the same time, the West Asians qualified from the Group D for the next stage of final eight as they scored one more goal than China in overall.
The pictured front page is from The Beijing News.