When it comes to young Irish players making the way in the game, we are accustomed to seeing many players take their first steps in senior football in the UK. If they decide to join an overseas academy before progressing to League of Ireland level in this country, the path nearly all players would follow would be to join a team in England or perhaps Scotland.
That is slowly changing.
One of the consequences of Brexit meant that Irish players aged under 18 were no longer eligible to join English clubs, resulting in many looking a bit further afield for their first move abroad. The likes of Cathal Heffernan (AC Milan), Kevin Zefi (Inter), and Matthew Moore (Hoffenheim) are just of the players who have gone down this route over the last couple of years.
As well as that, the globalised nature of the modern world means that more and more players born on the continent have opted to play for Ireland at international level. One such prospect made a major step forward in his career yesterday.
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Ireland youth impressed on Copa del Rey debut
While the Copa del Rey is not a competition that you would normally expect to see young Irish players star in, that was the case for one of our youth players yesterday.
Aaron Ochoa Moloney, who is only 16-years old, was part of the Malaga starting XI for their round of 32 game against Real Sociedad. While it would end in a 1-0 defeat for the home side, the 16-year old midfield impressed as he played 65 minutes of the game.
Partido inolvidable para Aarón Ochoa que estrena titularidad con el primer equipo ☺️#MálagaRealSociedad pic.twitter.com/giWqtvPWKB
— Málaga CF (@MalagaCF) January 7, 2024
Last month, he became the youngest first team player in Malaga's history when coming on in a league game. He will not turn 17 until April.
An Ireland U17 international who was born in Marbella, he qualifies to play in green through his parents. He made his debut for the U16 side back in February, before going on to graduate to the U17 ranks later in the year.
11 October 2023; Aaron Ochoa Moloney of Republic of Ireland during the UEFA European U17 Championship qualifying group 10 match between Republic of Ireland and Armenia at Carrig Park in Fermoy, Cork. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
Speaking after yesterday's game, Malaga teammate and fellow debutant Carlos Lopez was full of praise for the Irish youngster.
We all competed really well and Ochoa is a great example, he was one of our cadets last season and today stepped out and showed personality. He dribbled, provided passes, piled pressure on.
Malaga are one of the sleeping giants of Spanish football at the moment, currently residing in the third tier after back-to-back relegations. They were reaching the latter stages of the Champions League as recently as a decade ago, they have been poorly run by their Qatari owner in the years that followed and had an administrator appointed to run the club in 2020.
Hopes will be high that they can get back to the top flight in the near future, with the academy producing a number of good talents such as Aaron Ochoa Moloney in recent times. It will be interesting to see if the youngster can make an impact over the remainder of the campaign.
He is among a number of Spanish-born Ireland hopefuls currently plying their trade in the country, including the likes of Caden McLoughlin (Villarreal) and John Patrick Finn (Getafe).
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