soccer

We’ve all heard stories about how athletes are recruited at younger and younger ages by college teams, but Real Madrid, the professional and well-known Spanish soccer club, has gone a step beyond that. The team has signed a seven-year-old boy from Argentina. That’s right — he’s seven.

Earlier this week, soccer star David Beckham pulled double-duty as a security guard and helped to apprehend a fan who had run onto the field at Old Trafford in Manchester, England. Beckham was lining up for a corner kick when the fan, who looked to be quite young, invaded the pitch and began circling about.

Two videos featuring unusual trick plays have been making the Internet rounds this week. In the first, a high school soccer team in Arkansas fools their opponents by having two players feign a collision, then using that distraction to set up an easy goal.

Baerke van der Meij is about to play with the big boys - well, sort of. The 18-month-old soccer phenom was recently discovered via a YouTube video that showcased his ability to kick several balls into a box without much effort.

Real Madrid won the Spanish Cup earlier this week over their rivals, Barcelona. As you can see from the thousands of soccer fans who lined the streets of Madrid, this is a really big deal. The winning Spanish Cup team receives a large trophy, which Real Madrid's players showed off to their supporters as they drove through the all-night celebration on top of a double-decker bus.