Alexis Mac Allister has football in the family.
His roots can be traced back to Ireland but he is making history in Argentina. Brighton midfielder Mac Allister is on the brink of greatness with Lionel Messi and Co while his dad Carlos played with Diego Maradona.
His brothers Kevin and Francis play for Boca Juniors and Rosario Central respectively while his cousin plays in Malaysia. The family is out in Doha to support Alexis and his dream of being part of this remarkable Argentina success story.
But straight after the World Cup, the familiar family debate will happen again. Dad Carlos won three caps for Argentina, played for Boca Juniors and always insists Maradona is the best of all time. They were great friends during and after their careers.
Having seen Messi at close quarters, Mac Allister junior says: “For me it's Messi, but I don't think it's a discussion we'll finish!” They might do if Messi wins the World Cup on Sunday but you suspect they will be too busy celebrating to worry too much about that for a few days at least.
Mac Allister has the unusual looking name on the Argentina team sheet and you can see from his dad’s team pic from the 1990s, his red hair and fair colour show why the family tree has been traced back to Ireland in the 1800s. There is apparently a touch of Scottish there, too.
It is actually an unusual looking team sheet, too. There are Messi, Emiliano Martinez, Cristian Romero and Julian Alvarez as perhaps the standout, familiar names.
But this is a team about unsung heroes, a togetherness and unity which has moved away from star names and to a new generation of talent under Lionel Scaloni.
They still have Messi to give them an X factor and lift a team to a different level just as Maradona did in the 1986 World Cup. There are striking similarities.
But Mac Allister has really caught the eye in this World Cup with his energetic midfield displays and he could go back to Brighton as a world champion.
Mac Allister said: “There’s been a huge change since Scaloni arrived. In the past we’ve seen a huge variety of players, very important players like Higuain, Kun Aguero, Mascherano, who are not playing for Argentina anymore. There’s a lot of young players pushing now and changing the team. I think there’s a already a big change in the team.”
Argentina were on a 35-game unbeaten run before the World Cup and yet the defeat to Saudi Arabia in their Group opener changed the mood from optimism to siege mentality.
The squad were infuriated by the backlash, they felt the world wanted them to lose their next game to Mexico and crash out of the World Cup.
There are shades of 1990 when Argentina lost to Cameroon in their opener and yet still went on to reach the final where they lost to West Germany.
They have often shunned the media that criticised but Mac Allister has been one of their few willing talkers after games, albeit it is always in the early hours because Argentina made a point of having a party in the dressing room after each victory and then taking an hour to come out.
Mac Allister is happy to be part of the journey and is dreaming of doing his family, country and his home proud. He was born in Santa Rosa which is part of the Pampas region.
He said: “They're always here with the flag of the Pampas. I'm the first to play in a World Cup. Dad is always there, he's always got something to criticise or say! But we have a great bond. It's a great emotion, they've always been there for me, so all of this they deserve to enjoy it.”
