When Nicolas Cage Fooled Real Madrid

It's one of the most embarrassing things to ever happen to Los Blancos. This week, we look at the story of how “Nicolas Cage” tricked Madrid on a UCL night. Plus, we remember an old soccer connection to the Pittsburgh Steelers, examine potential rule changes ahead of the World Cup, and more.

This week’s stories:

• ⚔️ Remembering the Philadelphia Spartans

• ⚾ More Popular Than Baseball

• 😵‍💫 When Nicolas Cage Fooled Real Madrid

• ❤️ The Best Kit of 2026?

• 🗳️ Poll + Last Week’s Answers

• ➡️ And More

OUR HISTORY
Remembering the Philadelphia Spartans

We just knew we had to dig this one up after the Pittsburgh Steelers’ dramatic win over the Ravens on Sunday.

See, back in the day, right before the merger that would birth the NASL, the Steelers’ owners had a hand in forming a soccer team in Philadelphia: the short-lived Philadelphia Spartans.

Unfortunately, the Spartans were one of the unlucky teams to not survive the merger between the United Soccer Association and the renegade National Professional Soccer League, and they folded (on January 6, 1968) before the NASL kicked off.

Although most history books may have largely forgotten them, their story is absolutely fascinating.

STATISTICS
More Popular Than Baseball

Yup, it’s official.

According to The Economist, 10% of Americans now say that soccer is their favorite sport, making it narrowly more popular than baseball.

The beautiful game still sits behind football (No. 1) and basketball (No. 2), but these stats seem to confirm something we’ve all known for a while: soccer is trending up.

Read the full report here.

COVER STORY
When Nicolas Cage Fooled Real Madrid

Despite signing superstar after superstar, the mid-to-late 2000s were a pretty dark period for Real Madrid.

And nothing quite reflected that phase of disarray at the club more than the time an actor shamelessly pranked the club and their president.

The year was 2008, and Los Blancos were gearing up for a pivotal Round of 16 Champions League clash against AS Roma at the Bernabeu.

That’s when Italian television presenter/actor Paolo Calabresi decided to strike. Shockingly, by pretending to be Oscar-winning American actor Nicolas Cage, he got to enjoy full red carpet treatment at the match.

This fake Nicolas Cage watched the game from the club directors' viewing area at the Bernabeu, was taken into the team dressing room after the match, met Robinho, got a customized kit, took pictures with then-Real Madrid president Ramon Calderón, and even received an honorary membership card.

It was a horrible look for the club, especially since they also lost the game 2-1 and crashed out of the tournament.

Still, we’ll never know if the membership card was voided, so there’s a strong chance Nicolas Cage is still, technically, an honorary member of Real Madrid.

Today is actually Cage’s birthday, so maybe someone can dig through the archives and let him know if it’s still valid or not 😅

FASHION
The Best Kit of 2026?

It’s not even a week into January, and we’ve already got a contender.

Portland Hearts of Pine continue their insane streak of amazing releases and dropped their “Lighthouse Kit” last week, a jersey that bridges American soccer history with one of Maine’s most iconic landmarks—the Quoddy Head Light House.

Check out the incredible unveiling with Landon Donovan right here. Just awesome!

CLUBELEVEN
The Supporters Section

Let us know your reasoning! We’ll highlight your best answers next week.

CLUBELEVEN
Aggregates

Devastating: Not the news that Riqui Puig or the LA Galaxy were hoping for. Here is the shocking new timeline for their star man to return.

Avengers Assemble: As if Inter Miami’s roster couldn’t get any more stacked, they just made another incredible signing…

Taty: The former NYCFC talisman and MLS Cup winner just landed in the Premier League. Unreal!

Worcester: We continue our search for the best PL Bar in the country, and this time we stumbled into a hidden gem in Massachusetts.

Cheers: And on the topic of soccer bar-hopping, it was an honor to be featured here. Lovely day for a Guinness innit.

BUSINESS
Soccer-Specific Stadium in Boston

We’ve heard it plenty of times before, but it seems like this time it’s for real.

Last week, the New England Revolution announced that they’ve finally reached a deal with the cities of Everett and Boston, paving the way for the construction of their new home on the waterfront of the Mystic River.

Here’s what the deal entails.

WC2026
New Rules for the World Cup

Back in 1994, the World Cup in the US changed many things, like incorporating the “three points for a win” system for the first time, adding names to the back of jerseys, and eliminating deliberate back passes, to name a few examples.

Seems like this year, we may be due for a couple of other changes. We’ll see if they get the green light…

CLUBELEVEN
Your Takes 🗯️ 

Last week, we asked you: What's your favorite league outside the US? Here are some of your answers:

• “Before the Premier League, I took to being a Liverpool fan as a result of one fateful year of boarding school in Cambridge, England. By whatever Lord of the Flies-like ethic, I was “assigned” LFC as the newbie American. Andrew Ayers (Manchester United devotee and wherever you are, thanks) was the soccer guru casting his spell on the impressionable lads at Kings College School circa 1980. Premier League for the legacy of rock’em sock’em football.” - W. Dumka

• “Women’s Super League.” - S. Whit

• “Premier League. Most fun matches overall to watch, and the best studio crew in the business. No one comes close to Rebecca, Tim, and the two Robbies!” - Tom N.

• “Bundesliga. Best fan culture, clubs are majority fans/members owned, comparably cheap ticket prices, not many soccer tourists.” - Tobias

In the poll, “Premier League” won with 66% of the vote.

It was a fairly convincing win for the PL, and it makes sense. How can you not love it? Great shouts from a few other readers here as well, and an amazing story from W. Dumka (my deepest sympathies after that brutal last-minute equalizer by Fulham this weekend).

Also, still waiting for that utopia when we get all the major leagues under one simple streaming service, so we can watch them easily.

UP NEXT
Judge Selections

919 photos submitted to our North American Soccer Photo Contest this year!

Massive thank you to everyone who entered, and we’ll now be preparing everything for our panel of judges to sort through over the next couple of weeks.

All 25 finalists will be notified via email by January 20, 2026, with the open community voting opening on January 21, 2026.

We’re one step closer to finding the Best North American Soccer Photo of 2025!

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Have a great Tuesday!

Pablo