Norfolk holidaymaker who got scouted for national football team

Burgh Castle lad Louis Cutajar, 20, was spotted in September last year kicking a ball with his cousins, and now already has his eye on UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers this summer.

Cutajar, 20, was on a family holiday in Malta when a scout spotted him and called him up for the Maltese national side. "The scout said he liked what he saw and said 'get your passport sorted', so when that goes through they're going to offer me a contract and I will negotiate a deal," he told Norfolk online news EDP24.

Cutajar plays for Hibernians FC, but currently lives in Brick Lane, and is eligible for the national team as his paternal grandfather is Maltese.

Louis said the whole experience has been surreal - not least because his team mates all speak Maltese. "It was a little bit awkward at the start. They do speak good English but in the changing room they do speak Maltese so I couldn't join in with the banter but now they know my face and my name.  It's been OK on the pitch."

He has played football all his life, training with Norwich academy until the age of 16 then at Lowestoft Town and Diss, where he is still a player.

His dad Andy, 51, said the call-up means a lot to the family due to their Maltese heritage, and has enthused Louis about football again. "After leaving Lowestoft his mind went off it a little and this has kicked him into gear again. We get calls saying 'they've just mentioned him on sports news in Malta!'"