Portugal coach Fernando Santos turned to teenager Renato Sanches in a bid to bring some fluency to the midfield in their Euro 2016 quarter-final against Poland on Thursday and was handsomely rewarded for the decision.
Sanches, who only made his professional debut last October, was given his first international start and responded with a performance which belied his youth.
The 18-year-old ran the Portugal midfield, scored his team's goal and coolly stepped up to take their second spotkick in the shootout as they beat Poland 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw after extra time.
He even managed to upstage Cristiano Ronaldo, who produced another disappointing performance which featured a wasted free kick and two embarrassing miskicks when he had chances to grab a winner.
Portugal's midfield has been a headache for Santos throughout the tournament, failing to provide Nani and Ronaldo with the ammunition they need to run at defences, and Thursday's lineup was the nearest the coach has come to a solution.
Sanches, with his boundless energy, was the key, popping up in deep positions to start moves and in attack to create chances.
He capped his performance in the 33rd minute when he slipped the ball to Nani, collected a back-heeled return, sidestepped a marker and rifled home a shot from just outside the area.
There was no hint of nerves at the end, either, when he calmly scored in the shootout.
"I was just thinking about scoring, I was very cool, very collected," he said.
"I went up to the ball and did what I always do, picked a side and then put it there."
Portugal's other heroes were Pepe, a rock at the centre of the defence, and goalkeeper Rui Patricio.
