The career of a footballer is short. One moment can change a career forever. When your aim is to make the grade at Manchester United, those split-second chances are even rarer. You have to seize them; grab them by the throat or they will pass you by.
It's even less common that a player does that and still slips through the net. Their big moment goes to script only for the success to be short-lived and self-sabotaged. It happens, though. Just ask Federico Macheda, who was given his moment in the spotlight 14 years ago by Sir Alex Ferguson.
It's April 2009 and Sunday's opponents Aston Villa lead 2-1 at Old Trafford in a contest that could have huge implications on the title race. The stakes are high and the pressure intense with United staring down the barrel of a third successive Premier League defeat.
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Liverpool are breathing down United's neck. Ferguson's side had been in control of the title race, only for their great enemies to flip the tables with a shock 4-1 win at Old Trafford.
A meltdown at Craven Cottage followed. There were red cards for Paul Scholes, a deliberate handball 18 minutes in, and two yellows for Wayne Rooney, the second of which was given for hurtling the ball towards the referee in frustration after a decision went against United.
From a position of comfort, United were now in trouble. Key players were missing and the title was slipping away.
With 30 minutes to go, Macheda is thrown on, his moment to seize the day. What happened next doesn't need recounting, it's etched into the history books and it's a story that has been retold on countless occasions.
What is perhaps less well documented is the aftermath. The fall from grace.
After breaking onto the scene at Old Trafford, Ferguson was keen to set up a loan move for the next stage of Macheda's career. With a roster of big-money, high-profile stars ahead of him in the pecking order, regular game time was the next step in his development.
Discussions over Macheda's next move turned out to be his downfall. It all started in the Lowry Hotel when the 19-year-old thought he knew better. To this day, it's his biggest regret.
"I had offers from Sunderland and Everton to go on loan for six months," Macheda told FIVE. "I also had dreams to play in Serie A as an Italian guy.
"I thought I would go to Sampdoria for six months, try a new league and come back to Manchester. I wanted to try this new league that I had been growing up with.
"Sir Alex didn't want me to go there, at any cost. I remember before one game, I went into his room in the Lowry Hotel and I begged him to send me there.
"That was the biggest mistake I did in my career. He knew that the pressure was a lot, they didn't look after me like they would in England. I was a young kid, 19 years old.
"He knew it was a different world. To go there and not do well, they would eat me because I was coming from Manchester United."
Macheda got his wish, in the end. He finished his time in Italy with 14 appearances, zero goals. Hardly the success story anyone had hoped for.
At United, time waits for nobody. The next cab off the rank was ready to take Macheda's place and four more eventless loans followed.
Five years after his big break, Macheda signed for Cardiff City on a free transfer. The United connections didn't end, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in charge of leading the Bluebirds back to the Premier League after their relegation to the Championship.
“Knowing Ole, he wants to get back into the Premier League as soon as possible and the recent signings show that," he said. “I’m here for the same reason. I feel that this is a great team and if we can have a good season and work hard then we can go straight back up.”
As it was, neither would make it back to football's top tier with the Bluebirds. Solskjaer was sacked by Cardiff in September after less than nine months in charge, leaving them 17th in the table.
Macheda's time in the Welsh capital followed a similar pattern. He managed only six league goals in his two-year stay, the final six months of which were spent on loan at Nottingham Forest, and he was again available for free by 2016.
A return to Italy followed, with Novara. Another two years, 10 goals and Macheda's tag of breakthrough talent had quickly shifted to journeyman.
Panathinaikos brought his first taste of Greece and his most fruitful spell. Macheda, back at a 'big club', netted 40 times in just over 100 matches, a far better return than his previous efforts. That move lasted four years and was perhaps the most stable period of an otherwise nomadic career.
Macheda is now 31 and still playing football in Greece with Apoel. More mature, seasoned and well-travelled, he knows the mistakes he made at Old Trafford.
"I have regrets of not working hard as I did before I got to the first team," Macheda explained. "Once I got to the first team, everything was amazing.
"When you are doing well, your concentration drops. That doesn't allow you to keep working for something bigger, that was the missing thing for me.
"I didn't work for the next bigger thing in my time at Man United. I should have done a lot more with all the chances I had, even if it was 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes with the first team.
"I had a lot of them, I played 40 games in the first two years at 18 years old, that's not normal. It's a lot, I don't know if it came too early.
"I knew I was good, I was confident. I had to keep going and want it more."
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