IN A MATTER of a few weeks, Ryan Carmichael of Armagh could be lining out in the same team as Lionel Messi after he was picked by Inter Miami in the Major League Soccer draft on Tuesday.
He was a first-round pick, 24th overall and will now be linking up with club owner David Beckham and Messi.
An accomplished Gaelic footballer with Madden Raparees and promising soccer player with Portadown, Carmichael accepted a soccer scholarship with Hofstra University in New York and has been impressing at Varsity level.
This past year he scored 17 goals and made five assists, with this haul leaving him second overall in the statistical points system in the American college system.
Described as a supreme athlete, Carmichael has a nice bit of height and marries it with ball skills and a level of spatial awareness.
The 22-year-old was playing for Portadown in the Irish League as a 17-year-old before accepting the scholarship. He played 50 times for Portadown and was twice capped at Under 19 level for Northern Ireland.
