Melbourne City teenager Akeem Gerald made history in the AFC Champions League Elite on Wednesday night.
It was a heart-breaking night for Isuzu UTE A-League champions City, who suffered a 1-0 defeat to two-time reigning J1 League holders Vissel Kobe after conceding in the 94th minute in Japan where goalkeeper Patrick Beach produced a man-of-the-match performance.
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While City were agonisingly condemned to back-to-back defeats to begin their ACL Elite campaign, it was a memorable outing for Gerald.
The 15-year-old prodigy, who signed his first professional contract a fortnight ago, created history as he came off the bench in the 84th minute to become the youngest player ever to feature in the ACL Elite.
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“It was very difficult for us to take a goal in the last minute,” City head coach Aurelio Vidmar said post-game, with the team set to kick off their Isuzu UTE A-League defence against Western Sydney Wanderers on October 18.
“We were very, very good, especially in the first half.
“We played some very good football. Then in the second half, they started to win a lot more duels. In saying that, we were still very good in controlling them for a long time.
“But we couldn’t find that extra little bit of punch in the front third. We had quite an inexperienced front line today.
“I thought if we finished the game 0-0, it would’ve been very good for us.”
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Gerald was not the only City debutant against the Japanese giants.
Fellow teenager Besian Kutleshi, 16, made his senior bow for City while Kosovo international Elbasan Rashani also featured for the first time having sat out against Sanfrecce Hiroshima on matchday one.
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Another academy young gun – Beckham Baker – made his Champions League debut after graduate Harry Shillington succumbed to injury.
Shillington started for City, who included a number of talented youngsters in their line-up against Vissel Kobe.
With Andreas Kuen (quad), Socceroo Mathew Leckie (hamstring), Ben Mazzeo (knee), Medin Memeti (hamstring), Alessandro Lopane (ankle) and Lawrence Wong (knee) sidelined, Shillington, Zane Schreiber and Emin Durakovic started alongside Kavian Rahmani, Takeshi Kanamori, Kai Trewin, captain Aziz Behich, Samuel Souprayen, Nathaniel Atkinson, German Ferreyra and Beach.
While they did not see any minutes, exciting prospects Luke Becvinovski, Ryan Kalms, Angus Mackintosh, Mathew Baker and Jayden Necovski were among the substitutes alongside veteran Andrew Nabbout.
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