Borussia Dortmund star Marcel Sabitzer delivered a man-of-the-match performance in their resounding 5-1 win over Ghana on Friday as Carney Chukwuemeka scored on his debut.
Since switching allegiance from England to Austria, Chukwuemeka earned his first international cap from Ralf Rangnick and the young dynamite repaid the manager's faith with a promising display.
He started the match in midfield and was pro-active throughout, finding gaps in Ghana's midfield to run into and demonstrating his passing range to hook attacking phases together.
In the 79th minute though, Chukwuemeka got on target following a neat one-two with his Dortmund teammate Sabitzer, making it 4-1 on the scoresheet as Austria sealed their authority on the game.
The 22-year-old, who represented England at various youth levels, never received a call-up from the Three Lions senior squad which promoted him to join Das Team, who have also qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Now, with such a stellar debut behind him, Chukwuemeka is already making England regret their decision to not call him up as the Dortmund midfielder is off to a flying start in his international career.
But the man of the evening certainly was Sabitzer, who got Austria underway with a clinical penalty in the 13th minute after Thomas Partey was penalized for a handball inside the box.
The former RB Leipzig star then assisted Michael Gregoritsch for their second goal in the 51st minute as Sabitzer neatly laid it off for him from the left inside the penalty area for Gregoritsch to tap home.
His assist for Chukwuemeka was stunning too as the players played a neat one-two near the area to maneuvre their way past the porous Ghanian defense as the former then slammed it home for his maiden international goal.
Both Dortmund stars proved their value to the side as Austria demonstrated their frightening potential in a clinical victory that holds them in good stead ahead of their friendly game to South Korea on Tuesday.
While Sabitzer is a veteran and is nearing a century of caps - which he is likely to achieve at the World Cup - Chukwuemeka could become the next big thing of Austria. He's already given a glimpse of what the future holds for the national team.
At 22, he still has the potential to develop further should the player manage to keep himself fit. The World Cup might be the platform that springboards Chukwuemeka into the same bracket as the best players under-23 right now.