Miniature humanoid robots are getting more impressive by the day: this video shows the Darmstadt Dribblers team in action in the recent 2008 Robocup. And if you notice, they're really playing like proper autonomous soccer teams. It's the first year that three on three playing action has happened, and thus required some nifty role negotiation and info exchange over wi-fi. That's in addition to avoiding obstacles, finding the ball visually and trying to score goals. Ok, so that opposing team needs a better goalie, but at least watching this robotic version of the beautiful game means you get to see less diving and hissy fits at the referee. Impressive stuff, no? [YouTube.—Thanks Stefan]

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Fans of the English soccer league will know that today is the F.A. Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, where Premier League mid-tablers Portsmouth F.C. take on relative minnows Cardiff City. To mark the day, Cardiff City fan Ashley Weaver has made a stop-motion LEGO video of his team's amazing journey to the finals, complete with BBC commentary and black-and-white replays. The two videos took Weaver, who will be cheering on the underdogs at Wembley today, around 40 hours to do, and he shot around 1,000 still photos—that's around five or six every second. Part two is after the jump.

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Think you are a foosball champion? How about stepping your game up to the Table Football XXL? There is no information about how long this table actually is, but sufficed to say— you are going to need to bring some friends. In fact, two full soccer teams (22 players) could go head to head on this thing in what would undoubtedly be an epic foosballing showdown. Unfortunately, you may never get a chance to try your skill—the Table Football XXL is a one-of-a-kind item built as an advertising stunt for Amstel beer. [Airworks via DVICE]

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We thought Beckham had been officially exiled from his home country, but apparently he's back and captaining their squad. His teammates were sooooo thrilled at his return that they all chipped in and purchased a gold iPod Touch (probably from these people) and engraved his name on the back. Not only that, they engraved what it was for—his 100th captain-ship—so Becks wouldn't think that it was for being the most handsome guy on the squad. In comparison, I expect something along these lines when I reach my 10,000 blog post. Maybe a solid gold keyboard. Or some money. [Telegraph]

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Casio's G'zOnes are nothing if not sturdy, which is why people who favour ruggedness over any other feature are picking these up. Just how unbreakable are these things? Incredibly. Our buddy Danny from Wired took these outside so both a football team and a soccer team could throw it around. Check out the video to see (spoiler alert) what eventually did the phone in. On a similar note, Danny received a concussion while filming, proving that his head is slightly less durable than the phone. [Wired]

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Soccer may not be the most popular sport in the US - but don't tell that to millions of minivan-driving suburban mothers. Chances are, the kids they are constantly hauling back and forth to practice would love this soccer ball remote. Not only will it handle your TV, DVD and satellite controls, it is also a full-size, functional ball. So you can kick it around, do headers and let the TV channels fall where they may. I just hope you are a fan of English soccer. Available for around $45. [Product Page]

The instant I saw the Mustek SoccerCam, I wished I could press the shell closed and kick the thing across a room. While it is a perfectly functional 2-megapixel camera that costs just $40, I wished it were more, a shock-proof video camera that could record all the dizzying action in play, like the bowling-ball cam in The Big Lebowski. If I do ever get a review unit, I know I'll just end up punting the damn thing—so much for "hands on." (Jump if you want to read the press release.) [Mustek]

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