URUMQI, July 3 -- In tones of great seriousness belying his years and wearing a Manchester United uniform, Mexsut, 14, told a Xinhua reporter that it is "still too early to say" who will win the World Cup.

At Yiksak village hall in the far western Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Mexsut and his friends were watching the Argentina-Switzerland game in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Mexsut has played for his school team for the last three years and, as a striker, is a big fan of Lionel Messi. He helped his team win their fourth Xinjiang school league title this year.

More than 20 children were playing football in the schoolyard on Wednesday morning when the watching crowd cheered as Hupur, 78, broke through the defense, took off his hat and made a perfect header. Hupur is very happy that his grandson, a middle school student in Atux City, has inherited his football talent.

Located in one of the poorest regions in China, Yisak has a long football history. As early as 1872, a family of rich villagers, the Musabayevs, sent local boys to be educated in Turkey and Germany and they brought back football, which became popular in the muslim village school.

In 1885, villagers made their first football using two leather hats, stitched together and stuffed with cotton. In 1908, they laid out their first football field.

The village takes immense pride from Yiksak Farmers' two victories in 1927 over the UK Kashgar Consulate and Swedish Missionaries, according to Memet Zunun, 93, who watched the matches on his father's shoulders.

"I learned to play football at eight years old," he said: "My father and grandfather were both football players. We used heavy ball made of cloth and wool. The ball would only run a few meters with a single kick."

Real footballs, brought from overseas, were only for the most important matches.