Going for goal on the Loess Plateau

How one small county in Shaanxi province has become an unlikely hotbed of soccer talent

A decade since a transformative trip abroad, the soccer players of Zhidan county, nestled in the Loess Plateau of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, continue to pursue their soccer dreams.

In Zhidan, a county of over 160,000 residents, soccer has flourished, with over 6,000 players and more than 30 modern artificial turf pitches across 25 schools.

Back in 2014, the county sent 20 youngsters to Germany for soccer training, culminating in a friendly match with their peers in Berlin.