  We show how such important features of QCD as chiral symmetry breaking or the
formation of a mass-gap can be directly traced from QCD sum rules for two point
functions assuming, in the large number of colors limit, exact duality between
the operator product expansion and the spectrum described by linearly (or
nearly linear) rising Regge trajectories as predicted by string theory. We see
how the presence of chiral symmetry breaking is intimately related to
confinement in this scenario, as expected from general arguments, and how Regge
trajectories change when chiral symmetry is broken. As a result the whole meson
mass spectrum can be parametrized with a good accuracy by the constant
$f_{\pi}$ only, thus realizing the program proposed by Migdal some time ago.
