Phenoms

Caden Clark scored the tying goal in the 77th minute and the visiting New York Red Bulls rallied for a 1-1 draw against league-leading Toronto FC Wednesday night at Rentschler Field in Hartford, Connecticut.

The 17-year-old became the youngest player in MLS history to score in his first two games after entering the game in the 59th minute. Clark leveled the game by releasing a left-footed shot from above the middle of the box that sailed over the diving attempt of Toronto goalkeeper Quentin Westburg. 

It’s been five years since Real Madrid defender Marcelo showed up at an Alevín A training session (La Fábrica’s U-12 category) and watched on in disbelief as Takuhiro “Pipi” Nakai, then age 11, dribbled in a style that the Brazilian admitted was beyond his level of understanding.  

Pipi showing his qualities to Marcelo . pic.twitter.com/5jaFj8pWP3

Introducing Shaqueel van Persie, the 13-year-old son of Robin and Bouchra van Persie. Like his father, Shaqueel is moving through the youth ranks of Feyenoord and currently playing for the U-15 team. Like his father, Shaqueel van Persie is a scorer of outlandish goals.

Here he is scoring an incredible volley against Ajax’s youth side… 

Timing, accuracy, skill & power

Wonder where Shaqueel van Persie got that from...pic.twitter.com/4woHx39nHG

Norway showed Brendan Rodgers levels of character by rebounding from Thursday’s heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to Serbia in the Euro 2021 playoffs with a 4-0 win over Romania in Nations League play on Sunday.

It’s obviously small consolation for the nation’s failure to qualify for a first major international tournament since Euro 2000, but today’s victory showed why qualifying for the 2022 World Cup might be within this current generation’s reach. 

In his MLS debut, 17-year-old Caden Clark scored shortly after halftime to lift the New York Red Bulls to a 1-0 victory over Atlanta United on Saturday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Clark's goal, his fourth in the pros after scoring three times for the New York Red Bulls II of the second-tier USL Championship, came on the match's first shot on target.

Olivier Giroud became France's second top scorer when he netted a double to take his international tally to 42 goals as the world champions crushed an injury and COVID-19-ravaged Ukraine 7-1 in a friendly in a near-empty Stade de France on Wednesday.

Giroud, who celebrated winning his 100th cap, found the back of the net twice in the second half to move within nine goals of Thierry Henry's French scoring record. The Chelsea striker leapfrogged Michel Platini, who scored 41 goals from 72 games between 1976-87. 

A perfectly balanced contest between Barcelona and Sevilla at the Camp Nou on Sunday ended in a 1-1 draw with Luuk de Jong’s early strike being promptly cancelled out by Philippe Coutinho’s first goal for the club since May of 2019.

The meeting between second (Barça) and fourth (Sevilla) in last season’s table figured to be the sternest test of Ronaldo Koeman’s early reign despite the fact that Julen Lopetegui wasn’t on Sevilla’s bench after being sent off in Thursday’s 1-0 victory over Levante.

Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski scored four goals including a stoppage-time penalty to give the German champions a 4-3 home win over Hertha Berlin in a pulsating Bundesliga clash at the Allianz Arena on Sunday.

The result left Bayern fourth in the standings on six points from three games, one behind the top three led by Leipzig on goal difference, while Hertha slipped to 13th on four points.

Lewandowski fired Bayern into a 2-0 lead with two trademark goals before the visitors hit back through Jhon Cordoba and Matheus Cunha to set up a frantic climax.

For Real Madrid supporters, the new season had been worryingly labored, bordering on wasteful. It began with a 0-0 draw against Real Sociedad, continued with a narrow win over 10-man Real Betis that required a late Sergio Ramos penalty and reached a crescendo at mid-week after Vinícius Júnior’s scuffed effort was the only difference in a home victory over Valladolid.