Mary Fowler is the youngest member of the Matildas' squad, and when her side needed her the most she delivered a performance beyond her years to help send them into the quarter-finals of the Women's World Cup.
Fowler has been talked up as the next big thing to come out of Australia for some time now and in Sydney on Monday night she lived up to the billing.
The 20-year-old played a cool hand and never looked flustered as she had a direct role in her side's two goals on the way to a 2-0 victory over Denmark.
In a week in which some media pundits suggested the Matildas' campaign lacked cut-through, Fowler gave them that in more ways than one.
Spinning out of defence and with not much in front of her, the Manchester City youngster looked right to Emily van Egmond being tracked by a swarm of Danish jerseys.
To her left Caitlin Foord was lurking alone as the Danish had allowed her to do all night, and Fowler knew it was the ball to play.
Playing it was the harder part, but she made it look easy as she pinged a sumptuous ball off her weaker left foot that bypassed four Denmark defenders and into Foord's path.
The Arsenal forward did the rest to put the Matildas 1-0 up and send Stadium Australia, lounge rooms and live viewing sites across the nations into a frenzy.
"Mary has been class this whole tournament," Foord said.
"You know when she's on the ball, she's going to create and it makes my job easier.
"She has unbelievable talent and we're very lucky to have her."
It's a pass which is likely to played over and over, and for Fowler it could prove to be a seminal moment in her career.
The Queenslander's potential has never been in question but before this tournament coach Tony Gustavsson had earmarked her as one of his "game-changers" who could make an impact from the bench.
Sam Kerr's injury threw all of that out of the window, but Fowler belied her tender years against Denmark in a mature performance reflective of a starter.
Her defence-splitting pass was one part of her game, but she also showed her smartness in her ability to draw fouls when she needed to relieve her side of pressure.
She topped things off by being heavily involved in her side's second, playing a one-two with Kyra Cooney-Cross before sending in the pass which led to Hayley Raso's strike.
"I didn't think we activated Mary as much as we could have, especially in the first half," Gustavsson said.
"We looked dangerous on the break and she is key to that.
"The way she weights passes to get players in is world class."
Gustavsson has had plenty of headaches to deal with at this tournament, but with Foord in form, Kerr back in contention with a 15-minute cameo and Fowler coming of age, you sense these are the ones he will enjoy.
Australian Associated Press
