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“She celebrated as if she had won the Champions League,” noted England manager Sarina Wiegman with a smile.

To Lucia Kendall, the moment was just as monumental.

This comment came as Wiegman spoke about the young midfielder’s ecstatic reaction to her maiden England goal – early in a triumph over Ghana at St Mary's Stadium.

“The ground staff might need to repair that turf!” she quipped, in reference to Kendall’s perfect knee slide.

As the 21-year-old got to her feet, puffing out her cheeks and surrounded by her team-mates, a beaming smile appeared on her face.

A Dream Return to St Mary's

Southampton was her home for a decade; she was a familiar face there after graduating from the academy and making 103 appearances prior to her July move to Aston Villa.

Consequently, scoring at her old stomping ground in only her third game for England was an incredible moment.

“To do it here, where I was raised, was an immensely special moment. This place shaped the player I am,” Kendall said.

“It appeared as though it was fate. It was so special. I got consumed by emotion really.”

A Rapid Rise to Prominence

Southampton laid the groundwork, yet a formative decision made when she was 15 shaped her destiny.

A skilled cricketer as well, with a father who was a cricketer for Hampshire, she was forced to decide between the two pursuits as her football career began to flourish. Football won out.

“It was a tough call. I simply couldn't manage both,” Kendall said in a October media conference.

“I loved playing cricket growing up. It was a really difficult decision. I went back and forth, but when the time came, I realised I enjoy football a bit more.”

Her idol growing up as a Chelsea fan was Frank Lampard – an England midfielder famed for his goalscoring ability – and Kendall has begun her career in a like fashion.

Her ability to manage first-team football alongside a psychology degree was evidence of the mental fortitude and dedication required for the top level.

The club fought to keep her, but with her deal up, Villa seized the opportunity to bring her to the top flight.

Her rapid progress has seen her become a WSL regular and an England international in a short space of time.

“Maintaining her level immediately in a new league and club is difficult, yet she has done so,” said Wiegman.

“Things have gone so quickly so fast, but she just keeps up her levels and shows she is a good player - and that is impressive.”

Kendall certainly enjoyed herself at St Mary's, hitting the crossbar later in the first half and almost teeing up Villa team-mate Missy Bo Kearns for a goal, before Alessia Russo added a second with an injury-time penalty.

She came off after an hour to a roar from the home crowd and the enthusiastic voice of the stadium announcer boasting that she was “Southampton's very own”.

With 29 Southampton goals to her name, she commented, “The trust and consistent playing time I received from 16 proved vital.

“It was the consistent trust they showed in me as a player and the belief. I felt like I was ready for [the next step].

“I knew that I had to go in [to England] and prove why I should be playing at this level. The speed of the game is quicker and it was like going up a division.”

Praise for a Complete Midfielder

Kendall has made an instant impression at international level, with pundits stating she has just “has the quality” as a midfielder and looks like a “born talent”.

While mindful of protecting her young star, Wiegman is confident due to Kendall’s grounded and focused attitude.

Days after being called up by the Lionesses for the first time, Kendall was addressing the media saying she was keen to impress, but also understood the need for the team's greater good and whatever role she needed to play in that.

Teammate Alessia Russo observed that Kendall settled as if she’d been a long-term member.

“{This team's just gone on to win back-to