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Dirty Tackle - World Soccer

Dirty Tackle

Wed Aug 11 09:00pm EDT

Manchester United sign former homeless player

By Brooks Peck

On the advice of former Manchester United assistant coach and current Portugal manager Carlos Queiroz, the club payed £7.4 million ($11.6 million) for Portuguese club Vitoria de Guimaraes striker Tiago Manuel Dias Correia, better known as Bebe. While Queiroz is touting the relatively unknown 20-year-old as a future star, it's not his abilities on the pitch that make this signing so amazing.

According to the Guardian, Bebe was "raised in an orphanage after spending part of his childhood on the streets. But the Telegraph details just how Bebe's story is one that blows away "Goal: The Dream Begins." 

“I am very happy. I had the dream of playing, one day, for a major club. That dream has come true,” he said. “Football can change lives, very much.”

It was while living in Casa Do Gaiato, a respected shelter for young people on the outskirts of the Portuguese capital that he was invited with three other boys to play football with CAIS, a partner organisation of the Homeless World Cup, though he never actually played in the competition proper.

He was later spotted by third division Portuguese club Estrela Amadora after impressing for amateur side Loures.

From living on the streets, to growing up in a shelter and playing within the organization that puts together Portugal's Homeless World Cup team and finally, signing with one of the biggest clubs in the world at the age of 20. Surely Disney is already scheduling a release date for his biopic. 

[Related: More Manchester United stories and photos]

The Guardian describes him as "fast, technically gifted ... and strong in the air," which all sounds nice, but doesn't make the signing of a Portuguese third division player completely outside the country's non-homeless international setup any less surprising. But even if he doesn't live up to Queiroz's predictions of greatness, the story alone will make millions.  

Photo: ManUtd.com

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