Macheda: The story so far

21/04/2009 05:24, Report by Mike Shaw/Will Cope

Just a few weeks ago, Federico ‘Kiko’ Macheda might have eyed April in the diary expecting to play most of his football at Moss Lane, home of non-league Altrincham FC and also United Reserves.

Instead, the young Italian has enjoyed a dream goalscoring debut at Old Trafford, netted the winner at the Stadium of Light and made his first senior start for United at Wembley.

Still only 17, Macheda has made a meteoric rise through the Reds' ranks since arriving from Lazio in September 2007, as our timeline shows:

15 September 2007 – Makes his United Academy debut away at Barnsley and grabs the only goal of the game as the Reds run out 1-0 winners.

13 December 2007 – Scores the winner with nine minutes remaining on his FA Youth Cup debut as United edge out West Bromwich Albion 2-1.

26 February 2008 – Comes off the bench for the Reserves in a 2-0 defeat against an experienced Liverpool side at Warrington’s Halliwell Jones Stadium. Macheda pits his wits against Martin Skrtel during his 22 minute run-out.

27 March 2008 – Nets his first goal for the Reserves in his first start as the Reds ease to a 3-1 win over Newcastle United at Northwich.

8 October 2008 – Bags his first Reserves goal of the 2008/09 season as United beat Bolton Wanderers 3-0, pouncing on a loose ball to put the Reds ahead.

18 February 2009 – Scores twice but is then sent off as the Reserves battle back from 4-1 down to beat Wigan Athletic 5-4 in a breathtaking game at Robin Park Arena.

30 March 2009 – Bags a Reserves hat-trick against Newcastle at St James’ Park, including a superb 89th-minute equaliser. His performance earns him a place in the senior squad.

5 April 2009 - Comes on for Nani in the 61st minute with United trailing 2-1 at home to Aston Villa in a vital league game. Ronaldo equalisesin the 80th minute but the Reds are still set to drop two costly points until Macheda turns to fire a glorious winner past Brad Friedel in the dying moments. Kiko rushes to celebrate with his father in the crowd - and is harshly booked by referee Mike Riley for doing so!

11 April 2009 - Makes his second first-team appearance, again as a substitute (for Berbatov, 75). A minute after coming on, he scores his second winning goal for the Reds to defeat Sunderland 2-1 at the Stadium of Light.

19 April 2009 - Macheda is named in United's senior starting line-up for the very first time, in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley. Federico plays well but there's no fairytale this time as Everton beat the Reds in a penalty shoot-out.

Target Man: The Joys Of Being A 17-Year-Old Phenom

Manchester United teenage phenom Federico Macheda’s explosion onto the soccer scene has jogged Goal.com Greg Lalas’s memory of some other impressive 17-year-old players to grace the world’s fields. Anyone remember a kid from Brazil?

Apr 20, 2009 10:50:35 AM

By Greg Lalas

It’s been three weeks since Federico Macheda burst into the football world’s consciousness with a glorious goal that gave Manchester United a win over Aston Villa. When the 17-year-old Italian striker snagged a second match-winner the following weekend against Sunderland—a lucky touch, to be sure—Macheda etched his name into footballing lore.

Since then, Macheda’s been talked about ad nauseam from Rome to Rio. He earned his first start this past weekend in the Red Devils’ FA Cup semifinal loss to Everton, and although he didn’t score, he constantly threatened to, and something tells me Sir Alex would’ve liked to have the Italian Stallion on the field when the game went to penalties.

Regardless, even if Macheda never plays another minute, he will always be remembered—for his audacity on the turn for his first goal, for his impeccable timing on the second goal, and for the sudden frenzy that has thrilled the soccer world these past few weeks.

Hopefully, of course, this won’t be all Macheda is famous for in the end. Hopefully, he’ll go on and become a superstar who scores brilliant goals again and again until he’s well into his middle age. But regardless of how it plays out, he’s already joined an impressive pantheon of 17-year-old heroes. Here are a few of the best:

Pele: The greatest of all time was already famous in his home country, where he had been a 15-year-old phenom for Santos, when the wider world learned about him at the 1958 World Cup. Then 17, he scored the only goal in a quarterfinals win over Wales, then availed himself of a hat trick against France in the semis. He wasn’t done yet, though. He notched two more in the final, a 5-2 win over hosts Sweden. Suddenly, everyone from Real Madrid to Juventus wanted a piece of the teenager, but the Brazilian government declared him a “national treasure” to keep him from going to Europe.

Marco Van Basten: One of the most graceful strikers of all time, the Dutch master debuted for the Amsterdam giants Ajax in April 1982, when he was 17 years, six months old. He, of course, scored in a 5-0 win over NEC Nijmegen. It was the first of the 128 league goals Van Basten would score in 133 Eredivisie appearances for Ajax before his 1987 move to AC Milan, where he added another 90 Serie A goals to his total.

Paolo Maldini: Teenaged defenders are a rarity, especially in Italy, which arguably makes a Maldini’s early success even more impressive than his celebrated longevity. Now 40, he was a 17-year-old wunderkind in 1985 when he took possession of the leftback’s position in the AC Milan starting XI. He finished the 85-86 season with 27 appearances in Serie A, just the opening chapter on an epic career that includes 640 top-flight appearances for the Rossoneri.

Zinedine Zidane: Zizou made his Ligue 1 debut for Cannes in February 1991, when he was just 17 years, 8 months old. Hinting at the attacking greatness that would eventually help earn him World Cup, Champions League, Liga, and Serie A medals, he scored on his debut. Reportedly, the club’s owner gifted him a car as a reward for the goal, despite the fact that the driving age in France is 18.

Ronaldo: Before Inter and Real Madrid, before his mysterious episode at the 1998 World Cup and his triumphant triumph at the 2002 World Cup, Ronaldo was a rising star for Cruzeiro, for whom he scored 12 goals in 14 league appearances. Still 17, he was called into the Brazilian side for the 1994 World Cup. Despite calls for coach Carlos Alberto Perreira to insert the teenager to enliven the relatively uninspiring Seleçao, he stayed on the sidelines. Nonetheless, after the tournament, he transferred to Dutch side PSV for $6 million (£3.9m at the time).

Wayne Rooney: He was actually a week shy of his 17th birthday in 2002 when his stunning long-range effort gave the Toffees an unexpected win over Arsenal. In addition to ending the Gunners’ thirty-game undefeated streak, the goal put Rooney on the world’s map. After his birthday, he went on to score another 14 goals for the Blues, setting the stage for his eventual $45 million (£25m) move to Manchester United in 2004.

Lionel Messi: The shaggy-haired trickster was just 17 years, 10 months, and 7 days when he scored his first goal for Barcelona in May 2005 in a league match against Albacete Balompié. He was the youngest goal-scorer in Liga history until his Blaugrana teammate Bojan Krkic broke his record in 2007. Naturally, Messi, by then an elder statesman at 20 years of age, provided the assist on the goal.

But there is one cautionary tale for Macheda and his fans to bear in mind. Norman Whiteside still holds the record for the youngest player to appear in the World Cup finals. The Manchester United striker was just 17 years and 41 days old when he suited up for Northern Ireland against Yugoslavia at the 1982 World Cup, the first of five starts for him in Spain. Known for his height and tenacity, the Old Treafford favorite went on to play 206 league games for the Red Devils, scoring 47 goals. But, he was out of the game by age 26, cut down by knee injuries that required 13 operations over his short career.

Greg Lalas is Site Director for Goal.com.

The Future Is Bright

Today we lost the FA Cup semi final at Wembley against Everton in heart breaking circumstances, but I think there were many positives to be taken from the game. The first being that if justice was done we would have won that match, as we were denied a clear penalty and goal scoring opportunity late in the second half - which frankly I think we would have been given had it not been for Moyes’ remarks in the week about his belief that the referee is a United fan.

Many would have questioned Sir Alex’s decision to start with a team mainly consisting of young players, but he clearly felt the big name players were too tired, and that this was a perfect opportunity for the youngsters to show their hunger and potential, and a truly believe they did just that.

In goal, Foster had a couple of nervy moments but he kept a clean sheet over 120 minutes and needed to be given the opportunity to show his worth. The Da Silva twins were fantastic in the fullback positions especially as they have both been out with injuries, they made good use of the ball and defended excellently. In midfield, Gibson battled well and did very little wrong, had a great shot too, while Anderson had one of his most productive games in a long time which has restored some of my confidence in him. On the right it has to be said Park was poor, his use of the ball was shocking and he did very little to impact the game. Contrast to the other flank where

Welbeck showed he has plenty of potential, using the ball well, finding the right passes and moving well to link up with Macheda. Should have had a penalty/goal too. Up front, Tevez had a bad game, made poor use of the ball as has become a regular thing of late, and never looked like scoring. Though he did find some very good positions to receive the ball. Macheda, who was the stand out player for me, led the line like a man far beyond his age. He played with the aggression and desire of a true center forward. He was winning headers, linking up with his team mates, particularly Welbeck, and I think if he’d had more time on the pitch he could have got a goal. He looked like just the kind of player we need to partner Rooney and showed huge potential.

This game has shown many positive things to me. One of which being that when/ if (I’m pretty sure he will) Tevez leaves this summer, we may not need to splash out on a new striker because Macheda really looked the part today, he was not fazed by the occasion and gave a very good defensive partnership some problems. Welbeck looks like able back up too.

While we did lose the game, we should have won it with the penalty that never was. And it is this kind of bold belief in the younger players we have that has allowed us to have such continued success under Alex Ferguson’s management. A lot of the youngsters took this opportunity with both hands and showed they are ready to make the step up whenever the boss wants them too.

When we take a delve into our reserves and academy team, we see that something special is on the horizon at Old Trafford. Talent is there that we haven’t seen in some time. Notably for me are 3 Englishmen making a name for themselves in the United ranks. Matt James, a young man currently plyijg his trade in the reserve team, surrounded by people well beyond his age but standing out among them, is a solid midfielder who can do the lot, pass, tackle, score and dominate, what more would you want? Ryan Tunnicliffe, is another midfielder younger than James currently in the academy team, he has a style reminicent of a young Steven Gerrard and is just a superb player; plays with 100% commitment every game and again can pass tackle and score. Possibly the real jewell, without placing too much expectation upon anybody, is a young winger name Ravel Morrison, with lightening pace, unbelievable dribbling ability, and deadly finishing, he really is one to watch out for. Then there is also the likes of David Petrucci, a young Italian who is like a playmaker in attacking midfield, with a cracking shot on him, best mates with Macheda and is showing potential. These players will have been inspired by their slightly elder counter-parts in today’s semi final and will be determined to make the break themselves.

It seems the conveyor-belt of talented young players is well and truly on the move once again, and is making for a promising future for Manchester United. Seems to me that a perfect blend of finding a few gems from around the world, without bringing in too many to starve the local lads, and putting countless effort into producing our own local-brand footballers is about to really pay off, and I think it has been carefully planned by Ferguson, is is already building the team of the future. He knows that his time will be up soon, and that tha catalyst for his success has been the golden generation of youngsters he had when he first arrived here as manager all those years ago. He wants his successor to have this luxury awaiting him in order to continue this success of Manchester United - and whoever that man is, will not be disappointed.

The future is bright, the future is red

Author: Richie,,

http://www.manutdtalk.com