Lyle Foster's winner against Angola in Bafana Bafana's 2-1 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) opener in Marrakesh on Monday proved as much about his maturity off the pitch as his brilliance on it.
It is hardly a groundbreaking discovery that Foster -- who was nominated by Tuttosport for the 2020 Golden Boy award eventually won by Erling Haaland -- is a striker with immense technical ability.
In that regard, his perfectly-placed long-range 79th minute strike to seal the win against Angola was confirmation those who have followed his journey what they already knew.
However, what is more notable about the Burnley striker is the resilience he showed to bounce back at difficult points in the game. This is a quality which critics could fairly argue he did not possess in quite as much abundance in the early parts of his career.
In Foster's early years after breaking through at Orlando Pirates in 2017, the highs were astronomically high and the lows were agonisingly low. After playing alongside Cesc Fàbregas at Monaco in 2019, he went through a lull during a loan spell at Cercle Brugge and then during a spell at Vitória de Guimarães.
After scoring only one goal in two league seasons across the two clubs combined, he revived his career at KVC Westerlo before his move to Burnley.
Augusto Palacios had travelled high and low with Foster even before his senior breakthrough. The former Bafana Bafana head coach had, as he recalled it, first laid eyes on the striker as a quiet 12-year-old boy in a green shirt at Orlando Pirates trials.
Palacios - who headed up Pirates' youth development structures until January 2021 and has also had stints in charge of their first team - took Foster under his wing. He oversaw his development not only at Pirates, but also at his own Augusto Palacios Apprentice Academy.
"He had very good control of the ball, liked to be in the box and had very good ability on the turn. We saw the potential of the boy to remain," Palacios told ESPN in 2023.
The Peruvian coach recalled the younger Foster as "very emotional" but credited his "supportive and very strict" family for giving him structure at home.
"I remember at one stage, when he was 14, one day he missed a lot of chances in the league. I told him: 'You can miss, but you cannot miss [so many]. What happened with you?'" Palacios recalled.
"His parents came back to me and said he didn't want to come back. I said: 'No, bring him! Let me talk to him!' We had a long chat [and the issues were resolved]."
The years since have been paved with many more moments when Foster could have given up on his dream but chose to persevere.
The hype surrounding his 2019 transfer from Orlando Pirates to Monaco faded somewhat due to a lack of game time there and unspectacular stints in Belgium and Portugal afterwards. However, he eventually rediscovered form for KVC Westerlo and caught the eye of Burnley in January 2023.
Within 10 months at Burnley, he had won promotion, had a phenomenal Premier League breakthrough, and then taken time off due to mental health issues.
He subsequently missed Bafana Bafana's last AFCON campaign, as they finished third in Ivory Coast, and has taken plenty of stick from a section of South Africa's supporters since.
Nearly two years later, Foster could have been forgiven for shrinking under the pressure when he fluffed his lines in the 76th minute off a golden opportunity. Instead, the 25-year-old reacted in a way that showcased the tremendous growth that has taken place in recent years.
Discussing his phenomenal winner, Foster said in the post-match press conference: "The chance before, I think I hesitated a little bit with the pressure coming out.
"Obviously, with the second one, I think we did well to win the ball back again and got the ball at my feet. I wanted to score, so I just told myself to put it there. Thank God the luck was on my side.
"I think we just have to keep trying. Not every goal is going to go in, but one or two will, so we just have to keep shooting."
For Foster, taking many shots both at goal and at his career dreams have ultimately proven far more fruitful than they at one stage appeared destined to be.