Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher made a surprise appearance on Irish television on Friday night.
The Reds back-up goalie is currently on a short break, having not made it to the World Cup with Ireland. But as seen on The Late Late Show’s Twitter page, Kelleher was still being called into action.
The 24-year-old kitted up to face a blind-folded penalty from a young fan on the show, which is shown on RTE.
After the fan buried the spot-kick, he removed his eye mask to see the Liverpool goalie standing in-front of him. Clearly overcome with surprise, the child was then presented with a Reds ‘keeper shirt, signed by the whole Liverpool squad.
Not finished there, Kelleher invited the kid to an all-expenses paid trip to Anfield. Alisson Becker he may not be, but Caoimh is showing himself to be an equally good bloke as the big Brazilian.
Kelleher makes special use of his time off
Most off-World Cup-duty Liverpool players are probably putting their feet up on holiday. Kostas Tsimikas and Harvey Elliott certainly are.
But Kelleher isn’t most players. The Irishman is the epitome of a cool customer. With the air of a man who could quite easily be a lad you used to go to school with, he’s remarkably down to earth.
This clip from last night only goes to confirm as much. Kelleher could quite easily have turned such an appearance down.
Instead, as one of his country’s most recognisable players, he’s out making kids dreams come true.
There’s no doubt that Kelleher would rather be at this year’s World Cup, though. Vying for Ireland’s No.1 spot with Southampton’s Gavin Bazunu, he’ll hope to have a shot at the next one.
By then, it’s perhaps unlikely that we’ll still be able to call Kelleher a Liverpool player. With rumblings already appearing that he may be looking for a starting berth elsewhere soon, his time at Anfield looks to have a short shelf-life.
So, let’s enjoy him while we can. Because just as he becomes a superb goalkeeper, Kelleher looks like he’s growing into a really good person, too.
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