Agency :
Zidane Iqbal has become the first British South Asian footballer in Manchester United’s history after coming off the bench in the Champions League game against Young Boys.
The 18-year-old trained with the first team on Tuesday, before taking his place on the bench for Wednesday’s visit of the Swiss side, with qualification and top spot in Group F already secured.
Iqbal – wearing shirt number 73 – came on in the closing stages of the game, replacing England international Jesse Lingard.
The Manchester-born midfielder, who has Pakistani and Iraqi heritage, became the first British South Asian to pen pro terms at Old Trafford, in April, and is now the first footballer from the community to play for the club.
Speaking to MUTV after the game, Iqbal said: “It feels amazing, I’ve been working my whole life for this opportunity, it’s a dream come true, it’s just the start and hopefully I can keep pushing on.”
Ralf Rangnick confirmed Donny van de Beek and Dean Henderson would both start for United, but gave little away on Tuesday about the rest of the make-up of his matchday squad.
“Even if we may be playing with a few new players or fresh players, it’s still important that we win the game,” the United interim manager told reporters.
“And, by the way, the first game in this group we lost at Young Boys and so we still need to make up for that and it’s clear, no matter which kind of players we will start tomorrow, we definitely want to win the game.”
Manchester-born Iqbal has spent more than a decade with United, playing at early years’ sessions before joining the club at the foundation phase.
The attacking midfielder is well-regarded by coaches at United and has cemented his place as an U23s regular despite being one of the younger members of the squad.
