Real Madrid talent Rodrygo was in dreamland after making his Champions League bow against Galatasaray on Tuesday, with his selection taking him by surprise.
The 18-year-old Brazilian arrived from Santos in pre-season in a deal that reportedly cost Madrid €45 million (£38m/$50m).
While he enjoyed plenty of exposure to first-team football in Brazil, Madrid have been using him sparingly, the winger making only two La Liga appearances and also turning out twice for their second team, Real Madrid Castilla.
However, on the evidence of his performance in the 1-0 win in Istanbul, it seems unlikely Rodrygo will be made available to Castilla again, as he looked at home in the senior side in the absence of Gareth Bale.
Coach Zinedine Zidane only informed Rodrygo of his place in the starting XI earlier in the day and, although nervous, the youngster was thrilled to have participated.
"It was only today that the coach told me I was playing," Rodrygo told reporters. "It was a surprise, I admit, and I was nervous, but I really enjoyed this.
"The coach told me to go out and enjoy the experience, but to concentrate on the defensive duties he'd detailed for me, too.
"My objective now is to go back to Madrid and keep working hard, day by day, and see how far my efforts can take me. Boy, I'm enjoying this, though - it's a bit of a dream come true!"
Rodrygo was not the only young star to feature for Madrid on Tuesday, as compatriot Vinicius Junior came off the bench and 21-year-old Fede Valverde started in midfield.
Real's veteran left-back Marcelo was happy to see the club putting faith in their youth players and admits the club needed to show improvement after a recent shock loss to Mallorca in La Liga.
"Rodrygo is one of several great young lads - Vinicius, Valverde, too," he said. "It's great to see at our club, but when we lose, we lose together, and when we win, we win together. We needed to improve and we did it."
Victory moved Madrid up to second in Group A with four points, five adrift of Paris Saint-Germain, who have won all three of their matches.