Chinese public relations and marketing student, 20-year-old Zhang Yan, is among the 40,000 fans expected to travel to South Korea to cheer on China in the World Cup finals.

However, Zhang's trip won't cost him a penny as he has been offered a free trip as a reward for his work in a "cheering squad" set up to support the Chinese team.

"I am over the moon because I could never have afforded to go otherwise" he told The Irish Times.

Zhang and his friends formed a nine-member cheering squad which came third in a National Cheering Squad Competition. Two of the best performing members, including Zhang, have been selected to fly to South Korea for the China-Brazil game, with all expenses to be paid by a local company.

The Beijing student said in the past, he has been disappointed by the China national team, but will never forget the night they qualified for the World Cup finals when they beat Oman 1-0 last November. He joined a half a million people in celebrations in central Beijing.

Zhang's family have been concerned about his obsession with the sport. When he was in high school, he saved his pocket money to buy soccer match tickets. He does not have great expectations for the team in their first World Cup finals, but thinks it is a great opportunity for the team to get experience. Zhang acknowledges the sport is still in its infancy in China and there is a big gap between China and some other countries.

Li Bin, a 39-year-old IT company vice-manager, is soccer mad but won't be going to South Korea due to the high cost. He will be one of millions of devoted fans who will watch all the games with friends and family on television.

Li is optimistic China will do well but says there are still problems. China, he says, still lacks world-class players and team spirit. He says getting to the finals is a huge achievement and he hopes the Chinese team can show the whole world the "good spirit" of the Chinese people. "Of course it is better if the Chinese team can win some matches."

Another lucky fan who will travel to South Korea is unemployed factory worker, Wang Xiaoshan. Wang won US$ 8,454 in China's new World Cup soccer lottery draw launched two weeks ago. "I cannot believe I am going. But even if I had not won the prize I was determined to try to go no matter what it took." he said.