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China's Sun Ke celebrates his goal with team mate Jiang Zhipeng during their Asian Cup Group B soccer match against Uzbekistan at the Brisbane Stadium Reuters/File

A new Chinese academy is setting its sights on the World Cup. Evergrande International Football School has a huge ambition of becoming the best soccer school in the world. The academy currently has over 50 pitches and about 2,600 students and spans about 300 acres. The campus was built in 11 months with a budget of close to $250 million by Chinese billionaire Xu Jiayin, who also owns Guangzhou Evergrande Football Club. The school opened in 2012. The school also has 24 Spanish coaches imported through a partnership with Real Madrid, based on a report by the Telegraph.

“The place is amazing. For me, it’s really a shock the way they do it. Professional clubs don’t have facilities like this,” coach Rafael Garcia Gibran said.

CTV News reported that China is pushing its soccer ideals more in recent times. In November, the Chinese government announced that soccer will officially be integrated into the national school curriculum. About 20,000 Chinese schools will begin implementing soccer training programs to hopefully produce 100,000 new soccer players.

At Evergrande, students also take the usual subjects like English and math. In 2016, soccer will be provided as an option in the national university entrance exam to show parents that the sport will not distract their children from their academic endeavors. Telegraph also revealed that Shen Xianzhang, deputy headmaster, stated that all students will get a full education so that those who do not turn out to become professionals can proceed to university.

Evergrande has the ultimate goal of creating a team sport mentality. The school hopes to come up with soccer stars worthy enough to realise the country’s World Cup dreams. There is even a giant replica of the World Cup trophy at the Evergrande entrance. The school understands that it will take time before China will become a soccer superpower, so even the Chinese president did not set a specific date to reach their goals.

To contact the writer of this story, send an email to v.doctor@ibtimes.com.au