Meet Zidane Iqbal: First British South Asian to Play for Manchester United

The 18-year-old Zidane Iqbal on Wednesday night made his debut for Manchester United and in the process became the first-ever British South Asian player to play for the club. Iqbal, who plays as a central midfielder, came off the bench late during United’s last UEFA Champions League Group-Stage match against Young Boys at Old Trafford. Before taking his place at the bench, Iqbal, who is a regular in Man United’s Under 23 squad, also trained with the first team on Tuesday. Iqbal donned the jersey number 73 when he replaced England international Jesse Lingard on the field in the 89th minute.

Earlier in April, Iqbal, whose mother is from Iraq and father is from Pakistan, penned down his professional contract with the Premier League giants. Iqbal had impressed Man United bosses with his performance in Premier League 2 last season by netting six goals and providing one assist in 14 appearances.

The teenager joined the Manchester United academy at the age of nine, which is the earliest age to join the academy. The wonder kid has also been impressive on the international level while playing for Iraq’s Under-23 national team.

He earned his maiden call-up in September. A month later, he was named Iraq U-23’s captain and netted his first goal for the side during their 2-2 draw with Lebanon.

Moving on to Man United vs Young Boys match: Having already secured their spot in the Round of 16 of UCL, the interim manager Ralf Rangnick named an experimental side for the match. As many as six young players were named in United’s squad for the match, including Teden Mengi and Shola Shoretire, the two appeared in the match as a substitute. The duo of Bjorn Hardley and Matej Kovar also made it to the main squad but they were not substituted. Manchester United’s youngster Mason Greenwood opened the scoring in style by netting the first goal of the match in less than ten minutes to give the Red Devils an early lead. Fabian Rieder scored the equalizer for Young Boys in the 42nd minute as the match ended in a stalemate.