5 Key Players To Look Out For In Today’s All-Ireland Final

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In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last week, you’ll know the biggest day of the GAA calendar is upon us.

The 2016 All-Ireland Final promises to be a riproaring encounter as thousands of fans from up, down and outside the country converge on the capital to soak up that big match day buzz and try to push their team over the line.

Everyone and their mammy will be jumping on the Dublin/Mayo bandwagon today so if you don’t know your Aidan O’Shea from your Bernard Brogan, here are five key players to look out during today’s match.

1) Cian O’Sullivan

Brogan may be the darling of Hill 16 but centre-back O’Sullivan is the real looker of the Dublin team. A key player for Jim Gavin’s side, he marshals his team’s backline superbly, and is very smooth on the ball as well.

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A post shared by Cian O’Sullivan (@cianosull88) on Jun 11, 2016 at 8:08am PDT

2) Lee Keegan

Tough and abrasive, but with a fine coat of class. The Mayo wing-back never lets his opponent get too far away, and is always there to come up with scores at crucial times. If the curse of ’51 is to be broken on Sunday then Keegan may well have a big part to play in it.

3) Kevin McManamon

A really interesting character, Dublin’s McManamon plays in a band during the off-season and doesn’t necessarily fit with the prototype for a modern Gaelic footballer.

He was previously used to devastating effect as a “supersub”, but the half forward’s dynamic performances have propelled him into being one of the frontunners for this year’s Footballer of the Year award.

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A post shared by Kevin McManamon (@kevmc15) on Feb 6, 2016 at 9:20am PST

4) Aidan O’Shea

The big man from Breaffy is another player that Mayo really need a big performance from if they are to wrestle Dublin’s crown away from them. He is sure to be tightly marshalled by the opposition defence but is well capable of raising a green flag when most needed.

5) Diarmuid Connolly

Arguably the most gifted footballer in the country, the St. Vincent’s clubman could be the matchwinner on Sunday but is also known to have an unstable temperament. The Mayo players will no doubt wind him up in the hope of a reaction that could swing the game in their favour.