Meet the Irish Messi (possibly)

batistuta9

another 9 year old irish lad signs for one of the spanish giants.

Goodluck to him, he's at one of the best places possible for his development and what he's already did is a bit of an achievement in itself.

Zak Gilsenan, nine, from Castleknock, Dublin, has been snapped up by the Spanish giants after wowing scouts when he scored SEVEN goals in a trial.

The schoolboy saw off 400 other starlets to seal a place at the FCBEscola football academy — which has produced such famous stars as Xavi, Iniesta and Zak’s favourite player Lionel Messi.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/irishsun/irishsunnews/4431094/Zak-of-the-net-for-young-Irish-Messi.html

Xavi6

DON'T POST THE PIC!!!

On a serious note, was he born in Ireland or Australia? Football West, the governing body here in Perth, say Dublin but most news sources say Australia.

LuckyLloyd

Slow pony imo

clappyhappy

He was born in Australia, but holds both Irish and Australian passports. Heard his dad on the radio yesterday.

batistuta9

Xavi6 wrote: »

DON'T POST THE PIC!!!

On a serious note, was he born in Ireland or Australia? Football West, the governing body here in Perth, say Dublin but most news sources say Australia.

what are you on about pic's, Is it from the euro's girls thread? :pac:

I don't know, but going by the sun & here as well link they both say he's from Castleknock, actually that other link are taking it from the sun.

You'd go by the governing body though wouldn't you, like it's a better story for the papers in Oz if he's from there as opposed to just lived there

Xavi6

batistuta9 wrote: »

what are you on about pic's, Is it from the euro's girls thread? :pac:

Scroll down the page to the other thread on this from yesterday

paddy kerins

No pressure lad

Father Damo

He certainly has a very La Liga head of hair :pac: (according to someone I know. I have not seen a photo of him. Or the other kid. As to do so leaves me open to being sued )

The FAI official Facebook page seems to be claiming it was their summer school that discovered him, which does not exactly appear to be the case.

Jesus Wept

We are going to win World Cup 2020 with him.
ole*4

batistuta9

Xavi6 wrote: »

Scroll down the page to the other thread on this from yesterday

Never knew there was one, an interesting read though :pac::pac::pac:

everdead.ie

He was spotted by Spurs in Oz and they moved back here so he could train with the spurs youth set up but then a former Barca player recommended him and he got a trial.


http://nz.sports.yahoo.com/football/news/article/-/14257509/barcelona-nick-irish-superkid-zak-gilsenan-from-under-tottenham-noses/

stovelid

His name may be a bit too Irish for the Spanish to understand.

aindriu80

I hope he makes it to the barca team but he will no doubt enjoy the professional academy they have in the mean time. Breakingnews the Irish independent both say he is Irish but I dont know if he was actually born here.

Seaneh

He was born in Oz but his auld says it's his dream to play for Ireland he considers himself Irish.
Bit like the lad at Real Madrid, born in Spain but raised Irish, according to his auld lad.

leggo

Realistically, he'll probably end up more Leo from Fair City than Leo Messi.

Owen_S

He's already a step up from Paul Green.

Samich

He sounds Irish anyways. Sure anyways, if they move over to the academy and if they make it they'd most likely declare for Spain?

Seaneh

Samich wrote: »

He sounds Irish anyways. Sure anyways, if they move over to the academy and if they make it they'd most likely declare for Spain?

Messi didn't declare for spain...

Samich

Seaneh wrote: »

Messi didn't declare for spain...

Messi didn't, no. Diego Maradona was probably an idol of his so would like to follow in his footsteps? And Argentina are hardly a poor team now are they?

He'd want to play with a good team I'd say.

stovelid

Samich wrote: »

He'd want to play with a good team I'd say.

Any chance of the lotto numbers from 2020 while you're at it?

Samich

stovelid wrote: »

Any chance of the lotto numbers from 2020 while you're at it?

Let's be realistic here. We're talking 7/8 years anyways.

keane2097

How much do we reckon he can afford to be spending on lawyers?

Owen_S

Did keane2097 just post a picture? The Sherlock photo boys will come around and charge you with murder for not paying €0.13 :eek:

paddy kerins

keane2097 wrote: »

How much do we reckon he can afford to be spending on lawyers?

Oh boy you in deep shít now

Omackeral

Wow Barca's new jersey looks very familiar...

Francie Barrett

Bet we never hear of him again.

batistuta9

keane2097 wrote: »

How much do we reckon he can afford to be spending on lawyers?

hopefully a fair bit because i'd say his mother might be fairly well acquainted with Christian Karembeu

Seaneh

keane2097 wrote: »

How much do we reckon he can afford to be spending on lawyers?

Wrong young lad...
His name is John Joe Patrick Finn and he signed for Real about two months ago.

Junior D

He doesn't look like your typical John Joe Patrick does he?

TheDoc

Best of luck to him. Just love how at 9 he is " going to take the football world by storm". Rags need to get a grip : /


Thank **** Trap will be long gone by the time this fella comes of age, if he makes the grade

Father Damo

Ever notice without fail that every hyped up child prodigy is an attacking player? Always a kid who has scored 30 goals in 10 games, never a goalie/ defensive player.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

Father Damo wrote: »

Ever notice without fail that every hyped up child prodigy is an attacking player? Always a kid who has scored 30 goals in 10 games, never a goalie/ defensive player.

For obvious reasons top class defenders would be harder to spot as there's no "results" as such, also some of these players make it as defenders, Puyol (who was originally a striker/winger) and Greg Cunningham (striker/winger) are examples.