Goncalo Ramos made his teammates, coach and country proud, relieved and hopeful for the future in absence of Cristiano Ronaldo after surprising the world by banging the first hat-trick of the tournament in his debut World Cup appearance at the age of 21.
It was only his fourth appearance for Portugal and many were amused by the lethal way he scored those goals at such a stage where Ronaldo, with eight group-round goals, never scored, despite appearing in five World Cups.
This was a significant game in that Ronaldo was benched for the first time since 2008 Euros, making way for the Benfica youngster who turned the focus fully on him within 17 minutes with a thunder strike from a tight angle into the near post, giving even a good keeper like Yann Sommer no time to response.
Despite proving his worth in gold, even Ramos was finding it difficult to come to terms that he had just taken the football world by storm.
"Not even in my wildest dreams did I think of making my first start in a World Cup knockout game and scoring three goals," he said after the 6-1 thrashing over Switzerland.
Ramos, who calmly tipped through the legs of the goalkeeper for his second goal, had played only 10 minutes across two group games after making international debut on November 17 in a pre-World Cup friendly against Nigeria.
He took only 15 minutes to score his first senior goal for Portugal after coming off the bench in that debut where his side won 4-0.
The new breakout star portrayed his third goal with a delicious touch to mug the nearby Swiss keeper and became the youngest player to score a World Cup hat-trick since Hungary's Florian Albert in 1962.
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Ramos was born in Olhao, a city in the Algarve region of southern Portugal, in 2001, two years before Ronaldo joined Manchester United and made debut for the country.
His initial career involved local club Olhanense before being picked up for Benfica's youth system at the age of 12.
The first-team debut with Benfica was also a memorable event that took place a little more than two years ago in July, 2020 as he netted two goals in eight minutes after coming as 85th-minute substitute against Desportivo das Aves in the Portuguese top division.
The year prior, he was the top-scorer at the U-19 European Championships where Portugal finished runners-up.
But the presence of Uruguayan star striker Darwin Nunez in the Benfica team gave him limited game-time on the pitch for the next one and a half year.
The year 2022 saw his career take off as he started playing regularly, reignited his form to score goals under interim manager Nelson Verissimo, who found versatile Ramos useful in various positions in attack.
In April, he scored his first Champions League goal in a 3–3 draw against Liverpool at Anfield in the second leg of the quarter-finals, and became the second youngest player to score for the club in the final phases of the competition.
The breakthrough year also featured his first career hat-trick in August during a comfortable home win over a top-tier Danish club in the Champions League third qualifying round, less than two months after Nunez transferred to Liverpool.
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He also netted a goal and an assist in the play-off against Dynamo Kiev to qualify for the tournament.
Last month, he scored another Champions League goal during Benfica's 6–1 away win against Maccabi Haifa in their last group match that secured passage to the Round of 16 in style.
Ramos however, played a total of just 33 minutes for Portugal before facing Switzerland after being an unused substitute in last group-game against Uruguay for perhaps strategic reason, but he had done enough to propel Santos to unleash him for the big knockout tie.
He has scored 14 goals alongside assisting six times in 21 games for Benfica this season, including seven goals in his past six league appearances, before coming to Qatar.
The biggest stage will now remember him as the first player to get a hat-trick on first World Cup start since Germany's Miroslav Klose in 2002.
He is also Portugal's second-youngest scorer in the tournament, after Ronaldo in 2006.
Ramos can play in any position at attacking third and his proactive movements with midfield and positioning sense in and around the box could be a real concern for the opponents in the coming days, with Morocco facing the music first in their quarter-final tie this Saturday.
BREAKTHROUGH YEAR 2022
January: Started playing for Benfica's first team regularly
April: Scored first Champions League goal
August: Netted first career hat-trick
November: Hit first senior goal for Portugal as substitute
December: Recorded first hat-trick of Qatar World Cup
