Student no longer sheepish about soccer success

LANZHOU - The only "teammate" that 11-year-old primary school student Zhao Luting had to practice soccer with three years ago was a playful lamb.

There were no professional facilities or coaches in her small hometown located in a mountainous region of Gansu province at an altitude of 2,300 meters.

"Nobody could teach me how to play soccer, so I trained a lamb to play with me," said the primary school student. "I started by gently touching its head with a ball, and gradually it learned to head the ball back to me."