Federico Macheda
Federico Macheda is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Super League Greece club Asteras Tripolis.
Born in Rome, Macheda began his career with local club Lazio, but joined Manchester United when he turned 16 in 2007. He scored on his first-team debut in April 2009. Macheda spent the next couple of years on the fringe of the United first-team, before twice going out on loan – first to Sampdoria in his native Italy in 2011, and then to Queens Park Rangers in 2012, the latter of which was curtailed by injury. He spent further spells on loan, at VfB Stuttgart, Doncaster Rovers and Birmingham City. Having failed to break into the Manchester United first team, Macheda was released at the end of his contract in June 2014, leaving him free to sign for Cardiff City. He spent two years there before being released, also having a short loan at Nottingham Forest, and then spent 18 months with Novara of Serie B. He joined Ankaragücü in 2022, and was loaned to APOEL six months later.
Macheda is a former Italian youth international, having made appearances for the national under-16, under-17, under-19 and under-21 teams. When he made his under-21 debut in August 2009 in a friendly against Russia, he was the youngest player to do so at the age of. He scored his first goals for the team just over a year later in a match against Turkey.
Club career
Early career
Macheda was born in Rome, Lazio. He began his football career with Lazio's youth team after being spotted at the local Atletico Prenestino club in Rome. However, due to Italian football regulations preventing under-18s from signing professional contracts, he was not permanently tied to the club, and shortly after his 16th birthday, he was signed by Manchester United of England, where regulations permit the signing of players aged 16 and over. Following his family's relocation to England, he officially joined the club as a trainee on 16 September 2007.Manchester United
Macheda went straight into the Manchester United Under-18 side, and scored the only goal of the game on his debut, a 1–0 away win over Barnsley on 15 September 2007. In his first season with the club, he finished as the Under-18s' top scorer with a total of 12 goals in 21 appearances, and also made his debut for the reserves on 26 February 2008, when he came on as a 68th-minute substitute for Gerard Piqué in a 2–0 away defeat to Liverpool. On 12 May 2008, Macheda earned a Manchester Senior Cup winners' medal when he was named as an unused substitute for the 2–0 win over Bolton Wanderers in the final.Macheda signed his first professional contract with Manchester United on his 17th birthday in August 2008. In the 2008–09 season, he continued in the under-18 side, while also making a few appearances for the reserves. Towards the end of the season, Macheda enjoyed an extended run in the reserve team, scoring eight goals in eight games, including a hat-trick in a 3–3 draw with Newcastle United on 30 March 2009, and he was rewarded by being selected for the first team for the match against Aston Villa on 5 April. With United 2–1 down heading into the final third of the game, manager Alex Ferguson brought Macheda on to replace Nani just after the hour mark. After Cristiano Ronaldo equalised for United in the 80th minute, Macheda won the match with a turn to evade his marker followed by a curling effort from just inside the penalty area in the third minute of injury time.
File:Federico Macheda vs MLS.jpg|thumb|upright|Macheda playing for Manchester United in a 2010 pre-season match against the MLS All-Stars.
Macheda was named on the bench for United's next two games – first against Porto in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final, and then against Sunderland in the league – making his second appearance for the club in the latter game. Just 46 seconds after taking to the field in place of Dimitar Berbatov, he had the ball in the back of the net for the second time in his United career, deflecting a Michael Carrick shot past Craig Gordon in the Sunderland goal. With Ferguson opting to rest his big-name players for the FA Cup semi-final against Everton on 19 April, Macheda was given his first United start. However, for the first time in his United career, he failed to score and was substituted for Berbatov at the start of extra time. He started his first league game in a 2–0 win over Middlesbrough on 2 May; he was involved in the build-up to Park Ji-Sung's goal, but he failed to score and was substituted ten minutes into the second half. At the end of his first season in the United first team, Macheda was named as the Jimmy Murphy Academy Player of the Year in recognition of his performances in the under-18s, the reserves and the first team.
Macheda's 2009–10 season began with appearances in the third and fourth rounds of the League Cup, against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Barnsley respectively. He made his Champions League debut against CSKA Moscow on 3 November, followed by another appearance in the 1–0 defeat to Beşiktaş on 25 November, in which he forced a save from the goalkeeper in the last minute. He came on as a substitute for Berbatov in the League Cup fifth round on 1 December, before signing a four-year contract the next day that would tie him to the club until June 2014.
Towards the end of the year, Macheda suffered an injury that kept him out until 21 January, when he returned for a reserve match against Sunderland. However, he picked up another injury soon after, meaning that he missed out on the win over Aston Villa in the League Cup Final. He made his first Premier League appearance of the season in the 4–0 win over Bolton on 27 March, replacing Ryan Giggs in the 84th minute. With Wayne Rooney suffering ankle ligament damage against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Macheda was named on the bench for United's top-of-the-table clash at home to Chelsea on 3 April. With United 1–0 down, Macheda came on for Paul Scholes in the 72nd minute; Chelsea scored a second goal in the 79th minute, before Macheda scored a consolation goal for the home side two minutes later, although there was a suspicion of handball as he turned the ball into the net.
On 28 July 2010, Macheda scored his first goals of United's pre-season tour of North America as he netted twice in the 2010 MLS All-Star Game. The first came after just 21 seconds as he capitalised on a poor back-pass and the second came in the 13th minute with a header from a Nani corner kick. On 13 November 2010, Macheda scored his first goal of the season, netting United's first goal in a 2–2 away draw against Aston Villa.