With his goal after 23 minutes against Como, Mbangula achieved a double first: he is the first Belgian ever to score for the Juventus A-team and he is the youngest Belgian goalscorer in Serie A. To make it even more impressive: he did all this with his first shot in a match at the highest level.
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Not only his goal, but also his celebration (bow) afterwards caused a stir:
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Timothy Weah made it 2-0 for Juventus just before half-time and in the closing stages Mbangula crowned his dream debut with another assist for Cambiaso’s 3-0.
Samuel Mbangula swapped Anderlecht for Juventus in the summer of 2020 at the age of 16. Four years later, that move seems to be paying off, because after positive sounds during the preparation, the Belgian promising international is allowed to start in the competition opener of the great Juventus against Como.
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Ex-club and Anderlecht
The curriculum of the capricious and versatile attacker is remarkable, because before his year at Anderlecht (July 2019-September 2020), Brussels native Mbangula played five years with the youth team of Club Brugge. The people of Bruges managed to lure him away from FC Brussels at the age of 11. His choice to move to Anderlecht five years later was said to be prompted by difficulties in adapting to education in Flanders as a French-speaking person, according to La Dernière Heure. At Anderlecht, he was able to play football close to his home in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw again.
But he left Anderlecht after just one year, heading for Juventus. “It was never a perfect marriage with Anderlecht,” we read in La Dernière Heure by Christope Franken. “Purple-white criticized the attacker for a lack of discipline and consistency in his performances. The player, on the other hand, felt that he had received too little support for a long time compared to other teammates at Neerpede. He sometimes even felt neglected. With Pierre Dwomoh, Roméo Lavia and Mario Stroeykens, he belonged to the generation of 2004 that inspired awe in opponents.”
In the footsteps of idol Cristiano Ronaldo
Juve coach Thiago Motta included Mbangula, who still has two years left on his contract with the Old Lady, in the first team during the pre-season. He impressed and Motta has now rewarded this with a starting spot in the season opener of the great Juventus. Federico Chiesa may be at odds with the club and on his way out, but for La Gazzetta dello Sport it remained a big surprise that our compatriot was in the starting line-up while summer signing Douglas Luiz, who was signed from Aston Villa for 51.5 million euros, started on the bench.
“He’s on the pitch because he deserves it,” Thiago Motta said of the decision to start Mbangula. “He’s come into the first team very strongly and will be able to help us.”
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Mbangula. — © EPA-EFE
Samuel Mbangula is a fast, skilled dribbler who, as a right-footer, likes to come from the left flank. However, he can play in multiple offensive positions, so Club Brugge played him as a striker. His focus, according to him, is his scoring ability. Last season, he was out for several months at the Primavera (the equivalent of our reserves) with a muscle injury.
Mbangula has Congolese roots, but plays for the Belgian youth team. As a youngster, he mirrored himself on Cristiano Ronaldo, whom he had already met personally.
De Ketelaere and Atalanta win 0-4
Lecce-Atalanta also had a Belgian at the kick-off. For the visitors, it was of course Charles De Ketelaere. He was on the field for 69 minutes, but did not manage to nestle himself in the statistics of goals and assists. Atalanta won 0-4 thanks to two goals by Brescianini and Retegui (one of which was a penalty).
