Manchester United star Kobbie Mainoo has just achieved another huge milestone in his career.
On Saturday night, the Red Devils academy graduate made his England debut, coming on in the second half of the friendly against Brazil at Wembley Stadium.
Mainoo only made his first Premier League start in November last year, but he has very quickly become one of Manchester United’s main players.
At just 18 years of age, the Red Devils midfielder has already made 23 competitive appearances for the Old Trafford side, and now he has a senior England cap to his name.
Mainoo was initially named in the England Under-21s squad for March’s fixtures, but was then promoted to the Three Lions setup for the friendlies against Brazil and Belgium.
England manager Gareth Southgate brought Mainoo on in the 75th minute of the game as a replacement for Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher.
What has the English media said about Kobbie Mainoo’s England debut?
Although the teenager was only on for 15 minutes plus stoppage time, he showed glimpses of his quality and earned praise from several media outlets.
For instance, the Evening Standard wrote: ‘Huge ovation when sent on for his debut late on. Every bit as composed as billed, with one delightful turn in midfield.’
Meanwhile, football.london wrote: ‘Promising debut and made some good runs, touches and passes in his short cameo.’
As for BBC Sport, they wrote in their match report that ‘Mainoo looked confident in his cameo’.
Goal.com gave Mainoo a 6 out of 10 rating and wrote: ‘Had a couple of neat touches during his 15-minute cameo on debut.’
And Squawka also went with 6 out of 10, writing: ‘Didn’t look out of place in the England midfield, but he was also fortunate to not see a moment of hesitation right at the end lead to a Brazil goal.’
It’s always brilliant when an academy talent breaks into the first team, and even more so when the player in question is a generational talent.
Mainoo is pretty much as complete as you can get from a young player. And he’s still at the very start of his career. It’ll be exciting to see how he continues to develop in the coming years.
How did England fare against Brazil?
While it was a great occasion for the Manchester United prodigy, it wasn’t such a good evening for the England team, who fell to a 1-0 defeat to Brazil.
It looked as though it was going to be a goalless draw, but the evening belonged to another teenage star, namely Endrick.
The 17-year-old Selecao ace netted with a simple finish from close range after Jordan Pickford had kept out Vinicius Jr’s shot.
Admittedly, it wasn’t a game for the purists, with Three Lions talisman Jude Bellingham on the receiving end of a lot of fouls from the opposition.
England will look to bounce back when they take on Belgium at the same venue on Tuesday night.
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