West Ham United prospect Sam Howes was thrilled to make his senior debut while on tour of New Zealand.
In defeat to Sydney FC, the 16 year-old was handed his bow for the final 15 minutes.
"I'm not 17 until November, so to make my debut for the first team on this tour was not just an achievement for me, but for everyone around me - the coaching staff and everyone who has helped me at West Ham," the defender told whufc.com.
"It's a really big thing for me and I'm really buzzing at the moment. As soon as I got on the pitch, my head was spinning a bit and I was thinking 'Is this actually happening!' as I couldn't believe it at first.
"I took a free-kick and got a backpass off Reidy and obviously it wasn't the best of backpasses, but at the same time I dealt with it and I kept a clean sheet, albeit I was only on the pitch for ten minutes or so.
"I am really pleased with what I did out there, to be fair."
