'The Spanish Gooch' dreaming of All-Ireland glory

She was once nicknamed 'the Spanish Gooch' by Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh.

She stands 165cm tall, speaks multiple languages, hails from Andalucia and Sunday's currentaccount.ie All-Ireland Junior Club quarter-final will mean that bit more for Anay Rios.

The diminutive Spaniard has seen it all and done it all across Europe, but playing in an All-Ireland semi-final is the new dream now and she could move step closer with a win in Maastricht.

Monaghan’s Castleblayney Faughs stand in the way of Belgium’s Craobh Rua and an unprecedented slot in the final four but it won’t be for the want of trying for Rios and her committed teammates, who fight climate change by sending their CO2 emissions compensation money to BOS+ after every away day, in order to plant trees.

"I’m very nervous and excited at the same time. We are the underdogs but I am incredibly proud and happy to be part of this team and I’m confident we will show our best football," said Rios.

"I am convinced that, regardless of the result, we will be better footballers for playing this match."

Rios is from a town in the mountains of the province of Cadiz in the south of Spain - and she has played football for Gibraltar, La Coruna, and Sevilla.

But even before she picked up a Gaelic football, she had tried her hand at hurdle running, soccer, rugby, and handball, the latter of which she went on to represent PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands.

"It was kind of a high-level team. Of course, my position changed because, in Spain, I was playing in the middle and there the average size of my players was 180cm so I went to the wing.

"It’s better to be somewhat small and mobile if you’re on the wings.

"It was very, very competitive playing for them. And also they have been playing together