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Ferguson - This dramatic stoppage-time
wonder strike could transformed Manchester United's
season.
Man United wonderkid Federico Macheda’s proud dad has
revealed how his son’s move to England saved his family from a life
of poverty. When the 17-year-old scored his sensational injury time
winner against Aston Villa on Sunday, he ran straight into the arms
of dad Pasquale in the Old Trafford crowd.
And after the thrilling game Pasquale told how the call from Man
United scouts to sign the teen-ager came in the nick of time two
years ago. He said: “It was hard to pay the bills and we had been
worrying about having enough money to get to the end of the
month.
“Then we got that fateful telephone call from someone with an
English accent.” Federico was offered £73,000 a year to come to
Manchester – a huge amount for a family who had for years struggled
to put food on the table.
Pasquale had taken on a string of low-paid jobs including doing
night shifts so he could spend his days mentoring his son.
Federico’s mum Loredana worked all sorts of impossible shifts too.
And she was also at Old Trafford with Pasquale and younger son
Simone, 15, to see Federico’s man-of-the-match debut
performance.
Pasquale said after the game: “It was like being in a dream. All
these people celebrating Federico’s goal. I cried. He dedicated the
goal to me. He won champagne for being man of the match and gave it
to us.”
Federico was born in Rome and, after being spotted at the local
Atletico Prenestino club, joined Lazio’s youth team. But Italian
football regulations prevent under-18s signing professional terms –
which allowed Man Utd to swoop and sign him on a three-year deal
aged 16 in September 2007.
And before moving to Manchester, the hard-up family went on
their first holiday for years. Now Federico is enjoying some of the
trappings of football fame if pictures from his Facebook are
anything to go by.
He is shown beaming with team mates Cristiano Ronaldo and Rio
Ferdinand as well as surrounded by a group of grinning female
fans in a nightclub.