World Cup glory is the next big goal for ambitious Uygur soccer girls

When Dilnur Mardan joined her school's soccer team she knew almost nothing about the sport, but now the 15-year-old Uygur is the team captain and one of the top strikers, with ambitions of playing in the women's World Cup.

Founded in September 2013, the Hotan No 4 Middle School girls' soccer team was the first in Hotan prefecture in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

The 22 members have an average age of 12, and are all members of the Uygur ethnic group. They train for about 30 hours a week to prepare for tournaments. "They work really hard," said coach Akram Mokhtar. "When I finish assigning training targets, they always ask for more."