Zidane Iqbal #14

Profile

Before Iqbal made his debut, a journalist was told by Dick Advocaat’s assistant that the Dutchman thought from the young players, only Iqbal, then of Manchester United, was ready for the first team. It perfectly sums up the footballer. With a name like Zidane, he has always had a lot to live up to, coming up through the ranks at United from the age of eight to make his first-team debut at Old Trafford in a Champions League match in 2021. Born in Manchester, the son of a Pakistani father and an Iraqi mother from the city of Samawah, Iqbal became the youngest player to represent Iraq in a World Cup qualifier aged 18, when he came on as a late substitute in a 1-0 defeat to Iran under Advocaat's successor, Zeljko Petrovic. He is finally settling into the team, with 22 appearances and two goals at the time of writing, including the winner against Indonesia during the play-offs in Jeddah. “It was crazy when I scored, everybody's screaming, but I'm not lying, I heard my mum scream."

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