Who is Federico Macheda?

"Macheda sinks Brave Villa". That was all the Headline news I needed to read in my news feed, for me to quickly come to the realization, that Aston Villa had lost to United after apparently putting in a "brave" performance. Brave as it may have been, it was little consolation, falling woefully short of the motivation needed to open the article and delve for more information. The name Macheda, though it was not familiar to me, also didn't pique my interest, and I promptly started wasting time, aimlessly "checking" facebook.

At this point, with my mind preoccupied with Ferguson's mechanical ability to ensure the wheels have not fallen off the United wagon, I am greeted with instant messages from Jamie, enthusiastically demanding "did you see the game?"And irrationally stating, "this is game of the season and a 17 year old won it for united, the stuff dreams are made of!" I managed to resist reminding him that the game of the season had already occurred, happening just before the inconvenient International break when Liverpool thrashed United 4-1 at Old Trafford. The fact that I had not seen the United v Villa game, was a minor detail I was willing to overlook in my blissfully unbiased belief that the Liverpool game could not be bettered.

With my stubborn denial barely intact, after Jamie's barrage of instant messages, I received a phone call from another footballing Colleague in Jude, asking whether I had seen the game and the great goal that won it. Now, this may have just been a welcome distraction from the real purpose of the call which was arranging the collection of football kit left in my car over the weekend after consuming many victory beers on Friday evening, but two people singing the praises of this game, and in particular a talented teenager now had my full attention.

This led to the inevitable. "March Madness" was the marketing stroke of genius conceived by Setanta, offering free access to the Premier League for the month of March, knowing full well that it would take a strong will to resist signing up for the channel after the free access was cut, given that potentially one of the most exciting climax's of the Premier League was just around the corner.

I am that weak willed person unable to resist the mere $14 a month fee required to have channel 429 bare its presence on my screen again. And, after a short phone call to the man who has the power to feed my unhealthy addiction to Football, I was soon scrambling through the channels schedule, eagerly looking for when the game would be repeated.

Unfortunately the schedule did not show any sign of the game being repeated, so I was left to watch highlights online (see below). Highlights never really give a true feeling as to how good or bad a game was, which was the case with this game. All I will say is, the turn by Macheda, was gravity defying. Poor Curtis Davies, is left facing the opposite direction as Macheda swivels and curls in a fantastic strike. I'm left wondering what was better, the turn or the strike? Curtis Davies is left, still inside out.

Who is Federico Macheda? I have no idea. Its too early to answer that question, maybe he is a flash in the pan, maybe he is the next star to grace the Premier League. Time will tell, but what is certain is the international break has not halted the momentum of excitement the Premier League conclusion has fast become.


Manchester United v Aston Villa