LOUIE BARRY chased Liverpool ace Fabinho down the tunnel to swap back his debut shirt after scoring for Aston Villa’s kids in the FA Cup.
The former Barcelona star, 17, had initially exchanged shirts with the Reds midfielder to take a memento from the 4-1 defeat at Villa Park.
This is amazing
Louie Barry swapped shirts with Fabinho, but after a word with a member of Villa staff, chased him down the tunnel to ask for it back!
Now he's got Fabinho's shirt, and his debut shirt
#EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/6P36O5ciiW
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) January 8, 2021
But a Villa youth coach pointed out he might want to hang onto his special top after scoring against the reigning Prem champs and he hurtled after Fabinho, only for the generous Brazilian to give him BOTH strips.
Barry curled a fine finish past Caoimhin Kelleher in the 41st minute to level the game up at 1-1 as the Covid-hit Villans went in at half-time all-square after Sadio Mane’s early header.
Villa were forced to play their academy talent after the whole first-team squad and coaching staff were made to self-isolate following an outbreak which saw the side return TEN positive results.
The average age of the team coached by Under-23s boss Mark Delaney was just 18 years and 294 days.
A second-half blitz of three goals in five minutes ended Villa’s hopes of a famous upset despite a heroic display.
Gini Wijnaldum, Mane and Mo Salah found the net to ensure Jurgen Klopp’s side avoided a potential banana skin and progressed into the fourth round.
But that wasn’t going to dampen the spirits of local lad and lifelong Villa fan Barry – who joined the club last January from Barca’s La Masia academy having previously been on the books of rivals West Brom.
He is the first Englishman to ever mix it at the Catalan giants’ famous conveyor belt of talent and has represented the Three Lions at Under-17 level.
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WOW.
Louie Barry
#EmiratesFACup @AVFCOfficial pic.twitter.com/uhQJjQsaGS
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) January 8, 2021
Barry told BT Sport: “‘It’s the proudest I’ve ever been in myself. I guess my family were screaming at the TV when I hit the back fo the net.
“I’ve never been so proud in my life. I was just happy to score and hopefully there’s many more.
“I was working hard before and so was everyone else. When I celebrated, everything came out of me. It was relief, kind of. It was good.”
