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
equalises in 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.
