IT was the kind of debut any young soccer fan would dream of.
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Thrust into the fray in the second half against European giant Juventus, Wangaratta-born 16-year-old Seb Pasquali looked right at home on the big stage.
The Victory secured a surprise win, claiming the game on penalties (4-3) after scores were locked at 1-1 at the end of the second half.
His eye-catching performance was such that Victory coach Kevin Muscat made moves to shield the young gun from too much hype.
“He's certainly taken on board everything that's been asked of him,” Muscat said.
Pasquali made quite the impression when thrown into the midfield, and further dazzled after stepping up to the penalty spot and driving home their fourth and final goal.
Not one to big-note himself, Pasquali said he felt confident he could contribute to the team.
“It was a pretty surreal experience,” he said.
“It was exciting to debut against one of the biggest teams in the world.
“I was looking forward to it, I wanted to get out there and experience the atmosphere on the MCG, it was incredible.
“The team had done the work on the training track, we knew we were capable of performing well.”
With the game on the line, Pasquali was ice-cool in executing the penalty kick that ultimately separated the two sides.
“That (penalty goal) was a bit of a cherry on top,” Pasquali said.
“I was a bit nervous walking up to the spot, but I wanted to take the opportunity to have the shot.
“I felt confident that I could score.”
One person who was still on cloud nine was proud dad Tony Pasquali.
The Wangaratta Rovers legend said he told his son the same thing he had every time he'd dropped him off at any other soccer game.
“We were pretty nervous when he first came on, hoping everything went well,” he said.
“Victory were playing reasonably well when he came on, so we knew he'd get a touch sooner or later.
“He was pretty calm on the ball, they prepared him well for it.
“We would have dropped him off about two and a half hours before the game, all I sad to him was good luck, make sure you enjoy yourself.
“It's exactly what I would have said to him when he was playing junior football back in Wangaratta.
“When he went to the spot I though to myself OK, this is interesting.
“Whether we won the shootout or not didn't matter to me.
“I'm just happy he stepped up to take the shot.”