South Korean youngster of Nigerian descent, Marvin Akinlabi Park, made his debut start for Real Madrid on Tuesday as the Los Blancos defeated Getafe 2 – 0 to move five points behind neigbours and leaders Atletico.
Karim Benzema broke the deadlock for the champions on the hour at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium before Ferland Mendy added the second six minutes later.
Marvin, who was born in Palma de Mallorca, Spain to a Nigerian father and South Korean mother featured for the Spanish champions until he was subbed off due to injury.
Marvin has already had minutes with the first team in the match against Real Sociedad (matchday 2) and last weekend against Huesca.
While injury remained a major setback for Real this campaign, Zidane insist he was pleased with the way his squad responded despite the ongoing crisis.
The French tactician handed a couple of youngsters from Madrid youth squad an opportunity to prove themselves owing to the absence of key first team players.
“Yes, we planned to take Vinicius off,” Zidane told reporters in a post-match conference. “But then Marvin Park hurt himself and we changed our plans.
“Today we did this because we had to adapt to the situation with lots of absences. We interpreted the match very well and I’m happy for the players, because that’s not easy. We were really good, especially defensively.
“I don’t think there are Madridistas who think we can’t win the league. It’s the opposite, they always think we can change things, that’s what we’ll try to do.
Last season, Marvin played a prominent role in the UEFA Youth League as he scored a goal in the quarter finals, made two assists in the semi-finals, and provided one more in the final.
