It’s been a rough year for D.C. United, and normally a plucky 0-0 draw on the road against Real Salt Lake wouldn’t draw much attention as a lost season winds to a close.

However, United did do something notable in a scoreless game that saw few notable scoring chances: they gave a start to 15-year-old center back Matai Akinmboni, the third-youngest player to ever start an MLS match. Only Freddy Adu and Alphonso Davies (by a single day) were younger the first time they were on the field as a match kicked off.

With Adu and Davies, there was hype preceding those debuts, but Akinmboni’s emergence has been almost out of nowhere. It’s to such an extent that U.S. men’s national team observers are probably going to join MLS fans in asking “who, exactly, is Matai Akinmboni?”

Akinmboni’s rapid ascent

Akinmboni has been in United’s productive academy system for years, and while his name may be new to most, he’s been on the radar of some big-time clubs. Own Goal Nigeria reported in 2021 that Bayern Munich had offered a contract after a two-week trial.

Akinmboni’s uncle Sammy Kuffour (who won the Champions League with Bayern in 2001) may have had something to do with that, but Akinmboni’s potential is sky-high, and U.S. Soccer has also been paying attention. With Akinmboni eligible to play for Ghana and Nigeria as well as the U.S., he was named to the most recent U.S. under-17 squad in August.

The 6’2″ Maryland native has been on the roster of D.C.’s USL Championship satellite, Loudoun United, for most of 2022. Akinmboni’s professional debut came in their second match of the season, as he subbed in for the final five minutes of a 0-0 road draw against Miami FC in March. Akinmboni was in uniform for Loudoun 10 times, amassing four appearances and a total of 105 minutes played.

With Wayne Rooney coming back to MLS to coach the Black-and-Red, things have accelerated. Rooney, after all, debuted for Everton at just 16, and spent most of his time at cash-strapped Derby County having to give youngsters major minutes out of necessity.

The story folks around United tell is that Rooney marked Akinmboni down as a big prospect almost immediately, and the club used its final moves before the MLS roster freeze to add him (along with another highly-touted teenager, attacker Kristian Fletcher, whose deal will begin in 2023) as a homegrown player.

One day after Akinmboni’s contract was announced, Rooney named him to United’s 20-man gameday roster for what turned into a 2-1 win at NYCFC. Less than two weeks later, again on the road, Akinmboni was plugged into the starting lineup amid a formation shift, with Rooney deploying the 15-year-old center back on the left side of a back three.

Courtesy of D.C. United

Positive reviews

Unsurprisingly, Rooney and United’s veterans took note of just how smoothly Akinmboni’s first professional start went.

“He’s done really well in training, so on, and I thought he’s done very well (against RSL). I thought he was composed. On the ball, made the right decisions at the right times,” said Rooney, who added that substituting the youngster at halftime was not planned, but rather a combination of Akinmboni picking up a yellow card and United wanting to shift formations.

For Rooney, Akinmboni was in the game on merit. “I’m a man of my word, and what I’ve said to the players when I’ve come in, which you stick to, is: If you perform in training, you’ll play. You’ll get your chance to play,” Rooney told reporters after the match. “He’s been excellent in training, he deserves to come in.”

“For us to see him playing in an away game, going over to the west coast in difficult circumstances, and performing the way he did as a 15-year-old, he’s got a very bright future,” added Rooney. “I got everything I wanted from the 45 minutes he played tonight… I’ll keep trying to develop him as a player and hopefully we see more of him, obviously in this season but also in the years to come.”

Donovan Pines, another United academy product to become a regular sight at center back for the club, said that the only pre-game talk he had to give to Akinmboni was about being confident.

“I just told him ‘Play your game. You’re here for a reason, showcase your skill, and know we will back you up as much as possible in the game,'” said Pines. “He’s a very, very smart young player, and he’s gonna grow into an incredible center back.”