Youth Soccer

Last time we popped in for a look at the Sao Paulo Youth Cup we focused on the bad (funny) side of the Copa Sao Paulo, as we watched a Corinthians defender score one of the weirdest own goals of the past few years. Well, this time we are back showing the good side of Brazil’s premier youth competition.

With a single play, Fluminense’s 18-year-old midfielder Pedrinho went from unknown prospect to having fans bothering manager Abel Braga to call the youngster up to the senior squad.

China is not a nation you’d list when thinking about the world’s footballing elite. But President Xi Jinping is hoping to change that. Last year, China unveiled a plan to “become a footballing juggernaut by 2050”. The country is spending more money to attract players, including some of the game’s biggest names, to move to China.

In the wake of the LaMia Flight 2933 disaster which took the lives of 22 members of the Chapecoense football squad, the club has begun the painful process of building towards their new season with the aim of promoting players from their youth teams. While many seasoned professionals and other Brazilian clubs have offered their support with regards to personnel, Chapecoesne president Plinio David de nes Filho has maintained that the club will stay true to its roots and values.

The Copa Sao Paulo de Futebol Junior (Sao Paulo Youth Football Cup) is Brazil’s prime youth tournament, showcasing the next generation of young Brazilian stars. 

Names like Lucas Moura and Gabriel Jesus played the tournament as youngsters.

Celtic’s Karamoko Dembele, the 13-year-old prodigy who made headlines when making his debut for Celtic’s U-20 side, has triggered an international arms race between England and Scotland as both countries look to secure his services at the youth level. 

The interwebs were abuzz Sunday about the release of the trailer for "Fast 8" a.k.a. "The Fate of the Furious" (more on this later), but we, after searching the Internet for soccer-related "Fast 8" content in an effort to drum up an excuse to write about this movie even though we work for a soccer website, stumbled across this gem:

Beginning with the USWNT’s infamous defeat to Sweden at the quarterfinal stage of the 2016 Summer Olympics, proceeding to the Under-17’s inability to advance from the group stage of the U-17 Women’s World Cup and now ending with the U-20’s defeat to North Korea at the sem