Former Kerry All-Ireland minor winner Paul Walsh says he was 'star struck' when he met Brazilian soccer legend Ronaldinho last week.

The Brosna clubman presented the 2005 Ballon d'Or winner with a Kerry jersey when he visited him in his Rio de Janeiro home. The pair were also filmed playing 'keepy uppy' during the visit which was organised by Ronaldinho's brother Assis, who Walsh had befriended online.

“It was the first time in my life I was genuinely star struck, you can’t believe you’re standing in the spot where you are. Not many people get the chance to meet their heroes," the 2018 Minor Footballer of the Year told RTÉ's 'Today' Show.

“I wasn’t planning on telling anyone until I got back, I sent photos from the house to only a few friends. Nobody would believe me.

“It was only because nobody would believe me that I sent the photo of me and him with the jersey and then they must have let it out, because I then began getting messages."

Walsh took the opportunity to show the former Barcelona some clips of Gaelic football games on his phone.

“He was genuinely impressed by it," he continued.

"I don’t know if he was just being nice because he was genuinely the nicest person you could meet - the first thing he did when he came down the stairs was he came over and he gave me a hug, I presented him with the jersey then. You couldn’t ask for a nicer person to meet."

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