Martin Samuelsen will never forget the experience of making his competitive debut at the Boleyn Ground and hopes this is the start of a memorable career for West Ham United.
The Norwegian 18-year-old was introduced as a second half substitute during the 1-0 win over Birkirkara in the Europa League second qualifying round on Thursday night and received one of the biggest cheers of the night when he entered the action.
Samuelsen arrived from Manchester City during the summer and has already caught the eye of new manager Slaven Bilic and showed his potential with an impressive display against Peterborough last Saturday.
The talented forward is now hoping he can cement his place in the first-team squad and show he is good enough to compete at the highest level.
Samuelsen said: “It felt amazing to play at the Boleyn Ground and it was a really good feeling.
“I was very nervous when Slaven first called me to go on but I wanted to enjoy the moment. The fans are amazing and I heard them supporting me. They made it easy for me to go on.
“It was important that we got the victory. We worked hard until the final minutes and thought we played well in the final stages of the game. Overall we had a good performance. I am confident we can make it through to the next round. ”
Samuelsen had special praise for Mauro Zarate who produced another impressive display and was voted man of the match.
Zarate certainly has a point to prove on his return to the Club and Samuelsen knew he was going to be one of the star performers on show.
He added: “I told Mauro Zarate before the game that he was going to be man of the match. He is a fantastic player and can create stuff on his own and he is really important for us.”
With the pre-season campaign continuing against Southend on Saturday and Colchester on Tuesday night, Samuelsen is relishing the chance to play in so many games ahead of the new season.
“It is good to have these amount of games to build up our fitness before the big games begin and I think we should do well in those games.”
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