Robin van Persie says his resolution handy son Shaqueel a senior debut in Feyenoord’s Europa League defeat by Celtic was made “as a coach” and never out of sentiment.
The 19-year-old ahead spent two seasons at Manchester Metropolis’s academy, earlier than following in his father’s footsteps with a transfer to Feyenoord in 2017 and signing a primary skilled contract with the Dutch membership in 2022.
Quick ahead to 2025 and Shaqueel was named in Feyenoord’s first-team squad for the primary time in Sunday’s Eredivisie defeat by NEC Nijmegen.
4 days later he made his senior debut, approaching within the 81st minute of Feyenoord’s Europa League loss to Celtic.
“I made that decision as a coach, not as a dad as a result of we would have liked a aim,” stated former Arsenal and Manchester United ahead Robin afterwards.
“Shaqueel is a participant who can rating a aim from all angles. That was the rationale I introduced him on.
“From a father’s viewpoint, when your son makes his debut that’s all the time a particular second. However I wasn’t that busy with having fun with that second, I used to be doing my work like Shaqueel was.”
The London-born teenager did not have likelihood to make an affect and had only one shot in Celtic’s field.
He got here on with the rating at 2-1, with Martin O’Neill’s facet scoring their third a minute after his introduction.
“The way in which I see Shaqueel is as one of many gamers,” added Robin. “That is what we each agreed to a few years in the past after we already labored collectively. Shaqueel was dealing with that basically effectively, I’m too for my part.
“Afterward after we are dwelling after all we could have a pleasant second, after we are pleased with one another. I’m pleased with Shaqueel as a result of, like each participant who makes his debut, there’s a complete course of happening earlier than he made his debut. He labored laborious, deserved it and, for him, is a particular second.”
Van Persie is just not the primary supervisor to present his son a debut as BBC Sport picks out a few of the others, plus different father-son duos to have featured in the identical staff.
