Never in his wildest dreams did Wang Yang think he would be able to learn soccer skills from Alessandro Nesta, a member of Italy's 2006 World Cup champions.

On Tuesday, almost 50 students from Beijing Bayi School, including Wang, took part in a training session guided by Nesta, his former Italian national teammate Marco Materazzi, and retired Spanish star Michel Salgado, kicking off cooperation between China's Ministry of Education and the Global Legends Series to promote soccer in Chinese schools.

"It doesn't happen often that such high-profile stars visit China, not to mention learning from them in person. I hope I can have more chances like this in the future," said Wang, who has practiced soccer for two years at the school's Aoxiang Soccer Club.