Deadspin
In a story that really shouldn't be much of a surprise if you've had even a passing interest in the world of sports, it turns out that in Australia, there's a soccer prodigy already being recruited by the top teams who, of course, is only seven years old. His name is Panos Armenakas, he's already being scouted by Barcelona and, yes, obviously, he has an agent, so stop calling.
It's not Drew Rosenhaus either.
"[Barcelona] were flabbergasted by him after watching him and he is a phenomenal talent, but it is too early to be talking of moving to any clubs."
Yes, that's a fair statement. Best part about this: His posse is entirely full of imaginary friends.
Seven-Year-Old Trains At Bolton [Caught Offside]
Comments
i bet he is really 18 years old and his real name is Gus.
This reminds me of an old Mr. Show sketch about fetus beauty pageants.
What bothers me most about this kind of news is the wider implications it has. You know somewhere there is a father or mother shoving a tennis racket into their three month old child's hands, hoping to turn them into the next "prodigy".
What's weird is that this kid is an Aussie. When was the last time there was a massive soccer stud from Australia? And no, Mark Viduka does not count.
Well, Kewell was a pretty big deal until he got hurt all the time and then decided he wouldn't play even when he was hurt. And Bosnich was the keeper for Man U briefly before he descended into cocaine hell. There are Brazilian kids who are getting scouted at 9 and one of the up-and-coming Argentinians was first signed to a club at the age of 12. Unfortunately, the younger you go, the more of a crapshoot it is, as you can never really tell whether their skills and bodies will continue to advance at the same rate. Soccer is littered with former prodigies.
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