The has been much commentary around the lack of young Irish players coming through the ranks, but a unique pairing in the UEFA Youth League has bucked that trend.
That saw two Irish talents go head-to-head as Inter Milan faced Tottenham yesterday. Ryan Nolan, from Clare, was captaining the Italian giants' U19s from centre-back, while marshalling Troy Parrott, from Dublin, who was up-front for Spurs' U19s.
The two clashed in the 58th minute as Parrott went down under a challenge by Nolan, with the referee pointing to the penalty spot.
Jack Roles converted for the equaliser, but Parrott's day didn't last much longer after he was red carded in bizarre circumstances.
The 16-year-old received a yellow card - his second of the game - for a tackle on the Inter goalie (which you can see in the video below at 3:30), before being substituted.
However, according to a report by Football.London, Inter players and staff screamed at the referee until he realised his error. He then red-carded Parrott on the bench as substitute Rodel Richards had to leave the field too.
It was Parrott's second red card in three matches as the game ended 1-1.
In today's UEFA Youth League games, Lee O'Connor, from Waterford, started for Manchester United, while Ryan Johansson, a recently-capped Ireland U19 international from Luxembourg whose mother is from Westmeath, played the final half-hour for Bayern Munich.
