At the first ever youth Women's World Cup in 2002, a 19-year-old striker announced herself on the international stage.
She scored 10 goals across the two-week tournament, including five in a single game against England, leading her nation to the final against the USA.
Although they lost in extra-time, the teenager finished as both the Golden Boot winner and Most Valuable Player, cementing herself as the "next big thing" in women's football.
Her name: Christine Sinclair.
Now, 20 years on from that tournament, Sinclair has become not only a legend in the women's game, but in global football.
Today, aged 39, she is an Olympic gold medallist, a continental champion, one of just two players to score at five consecutive World Cups, and remains the world's all-time leading goal-scorer at national team level — men or women — with 190 goals in more than 300 appearances for Canada.
However, Sinclair isn't the only footballing superstar to "arrive" at an U20 Women's World Cup.
At the following edition, in 2004, it was Marta and Cristiane from Brazil.
Then it was Nadine Kessler and Amandine Henry in 2006, Wendie Renard and Alex Morgan in 2008, Alexandra Popp and Ji So-Yun in 2010, Dzenifer Marozsan and Ada Hegerberg in 2012, Asisat Oshoala and Beth Mead in 2014, Aitana Bonmati and Stina Blackstenius in 2016, Chloe Kelly and Alessia Russo in 2018.
Since that inaugural tournament, all these players have evolved from promising young talents to household names, with several appearing most recently at the record-breaking Women's European Championships.
The U20 Women's World Cup, then, provides the greatest glimpse into the future of the game and the players who will drive it forward.
This year's tournament in Costa Rica, which begins on August 11, will be no different.
In fact, the upcoming tournament is shaping up as one of the most exciting, technical and fast-paced yet, given this new generation is one of the first to emerge from professional club and academy environments around the world.
Ffor the first time since 2006, Australia will be part of that story, qualifying for the 2022 edition after the withdrawal of North Korea earlier this year.
For Young Matildas head coach Leah Blayney — who was a player the last time Australia appeared at the U20s tournament — Costa Rica will provide the biggest platform yet for the next generation of Australians to prove to the world what they're capable of, just as it did for Sinclair, Marta, Morgan, Hegerberg, Ji and Mead all those years ago.
"It's an excellent opportunity for young players to be seen on the international stage," Blayney told ABC.
"To go into a World Cup and play an array of teams who are going to bring something different to the table, it's an exciting challenge for the group and a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
"This group of players — and the staff — are about to experience the world game at a level they've not seen before. A youth World Cup is a very different thing compared with what we're all used to in domestic leagues like the A-League Women and NPLW.
"The hope is that some of these youngsters are recognised on the world stage so that we see more 17-, 18-, and 19-year-olds being contracted at big professional clubs so that they can kick on in their careers."
While the Young Matildas are one of the youngest teams who will appear in Costa Rica — largely due to the pandemic-related delay to the tournament, meaning the squad who helped Australia qualify back in 2019 are now too old to participate – Blayney is embracing the long-term thinking around exposing young players to international-level football sooner in their careers.
"We've been a bit strategic with it moving forward, in terms of where we think some of these players will or could end up," she said.
"In the A-League Women and other environments, there are some special players. History tells us that fast-tracking when we can see some of these players, and when they can have big tournament experience, is really helpful.
"If you look at players like Sam Kerr and Caitlin Foord, they were playing for Australia at 15. They were getting international match minutes, as well as solid league minutes. So it's important that these talented 16-year-olds get that kind of exposure as often as we can give it to them."
While some already-established young stars such as Mary Fowler, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Courtney Nevin were unavailable for this tournament — youth World Cups are not designated as official international windows so clubs are not obliged to release players — their absence has provided even more opportunities for lesser-known Australians to take part.
One of those emerging talents is Abbey Lemon.
While most of the Young Matildas squad have already made their A-League Women debuts, Lemon's story is a little different.
After coming up through the ranks in NSW, Lemon played for the Blacktown Spartans in the National Premier Leagues before being invited to train with the reserves of Spanish giants Levante for three months in 2020.
She impressed them enough to be offered a contract the following year, taking the spot of a player who'd been promoted into the senior side.
"It was an amazing experience," Lemon told ABC.
"Being in the NPL for quite a few seasons, it was an [opportunity] for me to break out and do something different, learn a lot more about different aspects of the game.
"It was a bit of a slow start, but technically and tactically, we grew a lot. Every week, we play differently: It's a completely different formation, the attack is different, the press is different, you defend differently. It was all dependent on who we were playing and what the other team had. They really looked into all the little details, which I don't think happens at NPL level.
"It was very, very professional, even though it was their second division. It was similar to what you'd expect in an A-League environment, which was pretty new to me at the time: all the physios, the doctors, the strength and conditioning coaches.
"Coming back [to Australia], I definitely had a new love for the game. Just being able to see those players in that environment: They all grew up playing together, they were so brilliant on the ball. It gave me so much motivation to keep working to get to where they are."
In addition to honing her football, Lemon also completed her High School Certificate and became well-versed in Spanish while she was abroad.
These skills and experiences have come in handy over the past few weeks as the Young Matildas have been preparing for the World Cup in Mexico City with friendly matches against Mexico and Colombia.
It may also help further when Australia take on Costa Rica, Brazil and Spain in the group stage starting on Thursday.
In addition to acclimatising at high altitude and mingling with Mexico's senior national teams at their training base, the Young Matildas have also been taking inspiration from the Women's Euros, watching games together during lunchtimes or between training sessions.
Lemon, who plays as a winger, is particularly fond of England forward Mead, as well as Spanish captain Alexia Putellas.
However, her shirt number, 21, is inspired by someone a little closer to home: former Socceroo Mile Sterjovski, who coached Lemon as a junior.
"He's been a really big part of my development when I was younger, and he's been a great mentor to me over the years. He's always there to help me out if I need it," she said.
"It just represents a little bit of where I've developed and come through in that club area.
"It's going to be so exciting to go into a World Cup and keep that number."
Not only will the U20 Women's World Cup be where the next Sinclairs, Martas, Morgans or Meads are discovered, but Lemon reckons Australia could return to the tournament with a bang and deliver a few surprise performances along the way.
"It's a really good opportunity for the whole of our squad, being on the world stage and having so many eyes from so many different countries to really see how we're playing," Lemon said.
"It was pretty lucky that we got into this tournament, so I definitely think the girls are up for it. I've got a huge amount of belief that we can go in and put up a really good challenge to teams like Spain, Brazil and Costa Rica.
"We've been playing some really good football the past few weeks and building from previous camps, so I think we're definitely going to put in some great games against some big countries.
"I'm very excited, especially with the [2023] World Cup coming so soon. Just seeing the hype around the Euros, seeing England winning and all of the fans and support they had there, I think this next year is going to be massive for women's football in Australia."
Players to watch
Australia: Hana Lowry (Blacktown Spartans FC), Sarah Hunter (APIA Leichhardt FC)
Brazil: Tarciane (SC Corinthians), Vitoria Yaya (Sao Paulo FC)
Canada: Zoe Burns (University of Southern California), Kaila Novak (UCLA)
Colombia: Gisela Robledo (UDG Tenerife), Ingrid Guerra (AC Deportivo Cali)
Costa Rica: Maria Paula Salas (N/A), Alexandra Pinell (LD Alajuelense)
France: Alice Sombath (Olympique Lyonnais), Vicki Becho (Olympique Lyonnais)
Germany: Sophie Weidauer (Turbine Potsdam), Lisanne Graewe (Bayer Leverkusen)
Ghana: Susan Duah (Avaldsnes IL), Evelyn Badu (Avaldsnes IL)
Japan: Shinomi Koyama (Cerezo Osaka Sakai Ladies), Maika Hamano (INAC Kobe Leonessa)
South Korea: Garam Chun (Ulsan University), Suin Lee (Korea University)
Mexico: Jana Gutierrez (Tigres UANL), Natalia Mauleon (Club America)
Netherlands: Sanne Koopman (Feyenoord Rotterdam), Ella Peddemors (FC Twente)
New Zealand: Kate Taylor (Wellington Phoenix), Alyssa Whinham (Wellington Phoenix)
Nigeria: Flourish Sabastine (N/A), Esther Onyenezide (FC Robo Queens)
Spain: Andrea Medina (Atletico Madrid), Inma Gabarro (Sevilla)
USA: Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns)
Match details:
Costa Rica v Australia
Date: Thursday 11 August
Time: 12:00pm AEST
Where: Estadio Nacional, San Jose
Watch: SBS and SBS On Demand
Brazil v Australia
Date: Sunday 14 August
Time: 6:00am AEST
Where: Morera Soto, Alajuela
Watch: SBS and SBS On Demand
Australia v Spain
Date: Wednesday 17 August
Time: 12:00pm AEST
Where: Morera Soto, Alejuela
Watch: SBS and SBS On Demand
