The man who oversaw Daniel Arzani's rise from prodigious talent to Socceroos impact player has backed the teenager to deliver on the world stage.
Arzani could be tasked with keeping Australia's World Cup campaign alive as coach Bert van Marwijk weighs up whether to start the 19-year-old talisman against Denmark on Thursday.
Former Socceroos defender Tony Vidmar coached Arzani at the AIS Centre of Excellence and said the young gun had plenty of maturing to do when he arrived in the capital as a 15 year old.
Daniel Arzani became the youngest Socceroos player to appear at a World Cup on Saturday night.
Photo: AAP
But mature he did and Arzani was the bolter in van Marwijk's final 23-man World Cup squad. He is the youngest player at the tournament in Russia.
Arzani played 12 minutes off the bench in Socceroos' opener – a 2-1 loss against France – and became the youngest Australian to play at a World Cup.
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The Socceroos must win or draw against the Danish to remain a chance of progressing to the knockout stages ahead of their final group match against Peru next Wednesday.
Arzani was at the AIS in 2014 and 2015 and linked back up with Vidmar last December when the latter joined Melbourne City as an assistant.
"He's come a long way in short space of time," Vidmar said.
"When he came into the program he had that confidence and that belief in his game, but I think he was still immature at that age and yet to understand a lot of things.
"But as time has gone on hes learnt a lot and become the type of player that he is today, which is a credit to the [AIS] program and his junior clubs.
"He has a lot of expectations on himself. Hes been away to the under-17 World Cup and I think hes matured a lot. He will take [the World Cup] in his stride won't be overawed by the occasion.
"He definitely has the talent and ability to go and have a strong career. Hopefully he can take this opportunity and learn a lot while he's over there."
Arzani only made his A-League debut in January but finished the season four months later leading the league in dribbles. He was named young footballer of the year and in the A-League team of the season.
Vidmar said he wasn't surprised to see Arzani named on the plane to Russia and pointed to the back end of Melbourne City's campaign.
"You look back six months ago and what hes done in the A-League since, he has been very, very good," Vidmar said.
"What he's shown in the A-League so far, it's a lot more than other players have done who have gotten internationals caps. Theres so much he can do.
"I guarantee when you do throw him in for 20 minutes he's going to make people stand up and notice. He's made an impact already and that's why he's at the World Cup."
Vidmar said he was glad to have linked back up with Arzani in Melbourne and praised the youngster for making him a better coach.
"When I first arrived a lot of the players were saying 'You must have been pulling your hair out when coaching Daniel' but I just laughed," Vidmar said.
"That's the thing, he always makes it interesting and challenging and as a coach he gets you thinking how you can do things better and differently. He's one player you always have a smile about.
"Going to an A-League club was the next step for me and you're limited to how many A-League clubs there are, but the club have seen what I have done and what I can offer.
"I don't think there is such thing as security in coaching these days but they've offered me another two years and it's a fantastic setup with so much opportunity to develop as a coach."
SOCCEROOS WORLD CUP DRAW:
Thursday: Australia v Denmark at Samara Arena, 10pm.
June 27: Australia v Peru at Fisht Stadium, 12am.
Eamonn Tiernan is a sports reporter with The Canberra Times
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