Barcelona have launched a new animated series aimed at younger fans. Made entirely in-house, in collaboration with Sony Music Latin Iberia, the cartoon "Talent Explorers" will chart the adventures of three scouts on the lookout for new Barca players.
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Max is team captain and a 15-year-old human boy, Roc is a giant bear (with a heart of gold) and Lynda is a tech-savvy kitten -- together they hope to find and mould the next generation of superstars.
Barça Studios to make Talent Explorers animated series
— FC Barcelona (from 🏠) (@FCBarcelona) May 15, 2020
Full story: https://t.co/SSRPlWxGI4 pic.twitter.com/HZszqbr10J
The trio will travel the world in search of the next Lionel Messi, their aim being to assemble a team of young footballers who will ultimately represent Barca at a special tournament.
On their journey, the talent spotters discover various prodigies from different cultures around the world, including Marco (a 10-year-old Catalan boy), Hao (an 8-year-old Chinese boy), Aisha (born in Ethiopia, 9 years old) and Lyli (a little American girl aged 6) -- all of whom possess their own special skills and talents.
The first season of "Talent Explorers" will be shown in two different formats: firstly in full 11-minute episodes that will be aired by conventional broadcasters, and secondly in two-minute episodes distributed on YouTube and other digital channels.
We always wondered where they would find the next Messi. Now we know.
With almost all football postponed indefinitely because of the coronavirus pandemic, star players have found themselves at a loose end.
With many training grounds off-limits, clubs have sent footballers home, where they're adhering to an isolation period for the next few weeks. How are they passing the time?
ESPN will be keeping a daily eye on what the world's best are up to, as well as how clubs are keeping busy by battling in online competitions against each other.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo surprises Portuguese comedian Bruno Nogueira during his last Instagram live chat show, "Como e que o Bicho Mexe," on Friday night by calling him from his bed.
Nogueira's Instagram live chats have been very popular in Portugal during the coronavirus lockdown and Ronaldo made an unexpected appearance 20 minutes into Friday's edition.
Nogueira was stunned when he was getting a call from Ronaldo's partner, Georgina Rodriguez, and could not believe when he heard Ronaldo's voice. Ronaldo's screen was dark so Nogueira kept saying "It can't be Ronaldo! It can't be him!" and then asked them to put the light on, which Ronaldo did to reveal he was in bed.
Ronaldo sent him a hug and said that it was an hour later in Turin and that he was in bed. Nogueira told Ronaldo to rest and to eat healthy.
Earlier in the day, Ronaldo once again stripped down to his underwear -- a common theme across his social media -- to model his latest line of fitness widgets. Looks like Nogueira needn't worry about Ronaldo keeping healthy.
Ronaldo
Brazil great Ronaldo shared a photo of himself and the family out in the garden -- though we secretly suspect the former striker was actually just showing off his rather impressive tree house.
Marcus Rashford
"I was told you are a huge @RafaelNadal fan" 🤣
— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 15, 2020
Watch @andy_murray and @MarcusRashford surprise a frontline nurse & fan on this week's episode of #TennisUnited 👇
Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford joined forces with Sir Andy Murray to deliver a special surprise video call to a nurse in order to thank her personally for her hard work during the health crisis.
Dani Alves
Sao Paulo right-back Dani Alves took some time out to meditate with his new monkey friend.
"Here we are thinking, what would we be without nature?" the Brazilian wrote. Quite a thought.