a Star in the Making

"... Macheda with a good tuurrrnnn... WHAT A MOMENT!! The seventeen year old had won it for Manchester United!!"

Everytime I read, or write, or even think about these words, the same set of images come through my mind. A tall, young footballer, with an almost Cristiano Ronaldo-like hairstyle, came to the field, replacing a struggling Luis Nani. His number was 41, a Reserve Team player.

The announcer introduced him to the crowd; the very first time his name being heard in the Theatre of Dreams, "...Substitution Manchester United; Number 17 Nani replaced by number 41, Federico Macheda".

Frowns can be found on foreheads, especially on United fans'. What was Sir Alex thinking? United trailing 1-2 to Aston Villa; two goals from John Carew and Gabriel Agbonlahor cancelled an early goal by Ronaldo. Liverpool is on the top of the table, and although we still had a game in hand, a defeat here at Old Trafford would be a massive blow, especially after losing twice to Liverpool (1-4) and Fulham (0-2) in the last two matches, and now he chose to gamble on a hugely unknown teenage striker?

United came to the match without 6 of their main players. Rooney, Scholes, and Vidic banned; Anderson, Berbatov, and Ferdinand injured. We do have Ronaldo and Tevez up front, but looking at the bench, the likes of Lee Martin, Danny Welbeck, and Richard Eckersley doesn't really give a secure feeling.

But we did overlook an unknown teenager from Rome.

Wave by wave, United stormed Villa's defence, but found a thick wall. Ronaldo, Welbeck, Carrick, even Johnny Evans missed a good chance to settle things up. But once again, we overlook that teenage boy. A long pass from Carrick to the galloping Gary Neville, who released the ball on time for Macheda who was waiting just outside the box. Luke Young came to knock the ball from his feet to Giggs', but when Giggs passed the ball back to Macheda, miracle happened.

The young Italian striker controlled the ball with an elegant touch to his left, tricking Luke Young who was convinced that it was going to the opposite site, and with one gracious turn, Federico Macheda blasted the ball into Brad Friedel's net, and claim his entrance to the constellation of international football stars.

So some people call this thing as a luck, that he scored the goal by chance. Oh yes, that's true. But how many can take that chance and made it into a match-winner? Not many, I think.

This opinion got stronger in me after seeing him playing in the Asian Tour. Two goals he had scored in the tour by the time I write this; one against Malaysian XI, one against FC Seoul. Both displayed excellent skills of a striker.

Watching his first goal against Malaysian XI last Monday (while mourning of the fact that he should have scored against my country's all star team), I realized that Macheda has got the major things a striker needs; positioning, calmness, and composure in front of goal. The way he stopped the ball from Fletcher's cross and slot it calmly to the goal really made me doubt his true age. A seventeen year old? Two years younger than me! And yet he looks as if he were in a footballing prime years of 27-28.

While his first goal expressed his ability as a target man, his second goal showed his speed, agility, and most importantly as a teenage striker, confidence. The way he wiggles pass the goalkeeper was excellent, and truly, reminds me of a tall French striker who wore jersey number 14 of Arsenal and Barcelona.

It is true that he still needs some improvements in certain areas; such as his reaction and team-work, but I do believe when he is trained by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and trains with the likes of Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, and Dimitar Berbatov, in a few years, I believe a new star is rising from the Theatre of Dreams.

So, I think Sir Alex was right. We don't need to spend a huge amount of money on buying a replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo. And maybe-just maybe-this time, the next legend from Old Trafford may not wear jersey number 7, but number 41. All hail Kiko Macheda! The next FIFA Player of the Year is in the making!