Dubai: Dubai-based Andrea Borg made his first team debut for English League One side Peterborough United in their 2-1 defeat at home to Fleetwood Town on Friday.
The 17-year-old Maltese midfielder is a former student of Gems Wellington who trained with the It’s Just Football Academy (IJF) in Dubai, until signing a two-year contract with Peterborough last April.
He was named on the bench for recent games against Gillingham and Charlton, but started against Fleetwood, and was replaced by Paul Taylor on 82 minutes.
The club contacted his parents a week before the game to inform them he would play so that they could fly over for the match, but Andrea didn’t know he was going to play until just before the game.
Peterborough are currently 11th in the third tier, and, with only three games to go, have no chance of being relegated or promoted, hence the reason their coach Grant McCann is using this opportunity to field youth ahead of next season.
Borg is believed to be only the third UAE-based player to sign for an English club after German goalkeeper Fabian Speiss and South African defender Kieran Geldenbuys, both of whom signed for then League One side Notts County in 2010 and 2012 respectively.
Speiss, 23, now plays in England’s sixth tier with Alfreton Town, while Geldenhuys, 21, is on a football scholarship with Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the US.
