Juan Mata offers to train with young Dublin goalie as host of famous footballers unite in praise

James Fenton

Dubliner Nathan Fanagan shot to fame yesterday when a video of his innovative goalkeeper training methods was shared online by his mother.

Like thousands of other children across Ireland, Nathan Fanagan is currently away from school due to the outbreak of Covid-19. However, the 11-year-old is not letting that stop him from keeping up with his training and his innovative methods have certainly caught the eye.

Nathan’s mother Sarah-Jayne Tobin shared a clip of him using a wall to help him save shots and it has been viewed over seven million times since yesterday.

Manchester United and Denmark legend Peter Schmeichel seemed to be the first high-profile goalkeeper to heap praise on Nathan and he was followed by the likes of David De Gea and David Seaman among others…

Nothing, not even an evil virus like the CONVID-19 should stop a talented goalkeeper from working on getting better. Well done young man👏👏 https://t.co/0od38Z2EMt

— Peter Schmeichel (@Pschmeichel1) March 23, 2020

Love it! 💪🏼😍 https://t.co/Xmdp3ZDXf6

— David de Gea (@D_DeGea) March 23, 2020

Loving the dedication to becoming a great #goalkeeper #safehands #football 🥅 ⚽️👐 https://t.co/g7ra78l7qi

— David Seaman MBE ~ SafeHands (@thedavidseaman) March 23, 2020

The video was also shared by Chelsea icon Petr Cech and, best of all, Manchester United’s Juan Mata has offered to practice his free kicks on Nathan when things get back to normal…

One day, if he wants, and when all this is over, I would like to practice my freeckicks with him on goal! What do you think? 🙌 https://t.co/Brl6omumf4

— Juan Mata García (@juanmata8) March 23, 2020

What a whirlwind 24 hours for the young man. Sarah-Jayne told Lovin Dublin that Nathan was ‘so excited’ to see that Schmeichel had shared the video and now that a host of other stars have gotten involved, he looks positively thrilled…

That was a day to remember!!!!😳😂

No joke; Nate has a rake of interviews tomorrow. He’s buzzing, this has been the most wonderful distraction from a thing that was worrying him- so, thanks Twitter!

Delighted you all enjoyed the video! pic.twitter.com/YHTgaGcyqR

— Sarah-Jayne Tobin (@TheSJTobin) March 24, 2020

Keep up the good work, young man.