Italy U21 international Marcello Trotta told Forza Italian Football he was a very proud man after scoring for his country on his first Azzurrini appearance.
Injuries and suspensions meant the Brentford man got his chance against Northern Ireland in their European Championship U21 qualifier and he came off the bench to fire in a late goal to help his side to a 2-0 victory.
“It was a really good feeling and I am so proud to score the goal on my debut,” he told ForzaItalianFootball.com. “The most important thing about that goal is that it made sure the team won because we really needed to get the points.
“To get a goal on your debut is a dream for any player for sure.”
He added: “The pitch was not the best but we always tried to play our game and do our best and I think that the best team came out on top in the end. They were a very good solid side and made us fight for the win and restricted our chances but we kept going, pushing on for the win all the time and we got that.”
The result leaves Italy in third place in the table but just one point behind the top two and he believes his side are still in with more than a good shot at qualification.
“We knew how crucial this game was in terms of our qualification chances,” continued the man once on Napoli’s books as a youngster. “The only thing that we know we can do is to win our own games.
“But I think we can do that and we will give ourselves a really good chance at qualifying.”
The man nicknamed ‘Rodney’ by fans of his parent club Fulham after the Only Fools and Horses character, also paid tribute to boss Luigi Di Biagio for his role in developing Azzurrini players but was coy on a potential return to Italian football some day.
“The manager talks to everyone, has a great respect for all of us and is very welcoming and helpful to all of us, even the new guys that come in [to the squad] and that is great, it gives you a lot of belief and he also has us keep the ball and try to play a good style.
“With Brentford, we are up there now and must keep pushing on which will be tough as there is a lot of games to go but hopefully we can do well and to go up. A return to Italy? I don’t know, at the moment I am just enjoying my football and want to just keep working hard.”
