From Ballyhaunis to the Bernabéu

With a name like John Joe Patrick Finn and a father from Ballyhaunis you wouldd expect a nine-year-old to be honing his skills with a Gaelic football or a hurl, but not the John Joe Patrick Finn from Madrid who has just been signed up by the new Spanish champions Real Madrid after impressing in a trials for Los Blancos.

News of John Joe’s exploits have cause quite a stir over the internet and on national radio during the week, where his father John Finn, who emigrated from Ballyhaunis to Madrid 19 years ago, gave the details on his sons rise from his school team to being selected by the academy of the multiple Spanish and European Champions, which is headed up by former world player of the year Zinedine Zidane.

John Joe, who has Irish and Cameroonian roots, could be the leading Madrid and Ireland to glory in a decades time if all goes to plan for the young star

 

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