Relatives of Argentinian midfielder Alexis Mac Allister have said they are 'on a cloud' after his team won the World Cup.
The South American side won on penalties against France in Doha on Sunday.
Mac Allister was born in Argentina to parents of Irish extraction.
His relatives still live in the Donabate area of Dublin - a town Alexis' great-grandfather left to go to Argentina in 1868.
Noel Mac Allister is one of those relatives and told Henry McKean for Lunchtime Live he cannot believe it.
"Who would ever think - it had to be a billion to one chance - that a relation could be in the World Cup and win the World Cup?" he said.
Alexis Mac Allister kisses the World Cup trophy after Argentina's win. Picture via Instagram/alemacallister"I can't get my head around that - it's fantastic.
"We have connections out there, and I was out there three times in Argentina.
"Though I never met Carlos [Alexis' father] or Alexis; I was to meet Carlos at one stage there, but it just didn't happen.
"Dickie Mac Allister is the main contact out there... I was talking to him last night on the phone.
"I had a few drinks on me, and I was trying to make out what he was saying and I think he had a few drinks on him as well.
"It was a great conversation - I said, 'Look let's talk, I'll give you a ring when this all calms' down.'"
"Of any World Cup, I think that has to be the best final ever."
'It really is magnificent'
Noel said a lot of the relatives in Argentina are 'Irish first'.
"I'm just on a cloud at the moment - what do I feel? I feel very excited, absolutely, I couldn't believe it," he said.
"I just can't believe that this is happening; it really is magnificent".
While he feels Argentinian today, Noel said: "I'm Irish first - and a lot of them out there are Irish first".
“We are so proud.” Relatives of midfielder Alexis Mac Allister celebrate Argentina winning the World Cup in little Argentina (Donabate North County Dublin). #WorldCupFinal @LunchtimeLiveNT @NewstalkFM @andreagilligan from 12 GMT. #Argentina pic.twitter.com/nSNlfI2AHD
— Henry McKean (@HenryMcKean) December 19, 2022
Noel said there was a plan for Irish citizenship previously, but this sadly fell through.
"That was tried and there was a broken link somewhere," he said.
"His grandfather's uncle, John, his grandfather was baptised here in the church.
"I got the baptism certificate and Johnny wanted an Irish passport; he wanted it badly.
"He was going to come to Ireland, and I had it all arranged when he died - and that was sad".
Locals in Donabate say they are "very proud" of Mac Allister. Picture by: HenryMcKean/Newstalk"They've done very well for themselves out there," he said.
"They settled in Pergamino and they actually took over a lot of land out there.
"They married into the Fox-Murray family, who are Irish as well, and if you go out there, you'll see all the Irish names.
"At one time, between the families, they had 14,000 hectares to control - that's a lot of land," he added.
