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“Her celebration was worthy of a Champions League triumph,” remarked England coach Sarina Wiegman with a smile.

For Lucia Kendall, the feeling was remarkably similar.

Wiegman was recalling the moment the Aston Villa midfielder dashed into the corner after slotting her first Lionesses goal – six minutes into a triumph over Ghana at St Mary's Stadium.

“They are still doing some treatment on the grass!” she joked, poking fun at Kendall’s immaculate knee slide.

Getting up from her slide, Kendall took in the moment with cheeks puffed and a huge grin.

A Scripted Moment at a Familiar Ground

Kendall was “part of the furniture” at Southampton – a club where she had been for ten seasons, rising through their academy and making 103 appearances before joining Villa in July.

So when she found the net at St Mary's Stadium on her return, and on only her third England cap, it was the pinnacle of her career.

“A really special moment for me to be able to do it here, where I grew up. This place forged the player I am,” Kendall stated.

“It seemed destined to happen. It was so special. I got overwhelmed with emotion really.”

‘Things Have Gone So Quickly’

It may have been Southampton who “shaped” Kendall, but a crucial decision at the age of 15 proved crucial to her future.

Despite being a talented cricketer (her father had a career with Hampshire), the looming demands of senior football at Southampton forced her hand. She went with football.

“It was an interesting one. There was no time for me to do both anymore,” Kendall commented 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.”

A Chelsea supporter, her childhood hero was the prolific England midfielder Frank Lampard, and Kendall’s early career is mirroring that goalscoring trend.

Her ability to manage first-team football alongside a psychology degree signaled the drive and commitment required for the top level.

The second-tier club retained her for as long as they could, but when her contract expired in the summer, Villa swooped to put her in the Women's Super League spotlight.

Her meteoric rise has seen her become a WSL regular and an England international in a very brief period.

“She shows consistency and that's not easy when you just come into a new environment and into the WSL with Aston Villa,” admitted 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, striking 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 was substituted 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 regular playing time I received from 16 was crucial.

“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.”

Acknowledgment of Her Football Intelligence

At the highest level, she has appeared comfortable, described as a gifted midfielder who “gets it”.

Wiegman is eager to shield her, saying the media can play a role in that and so can Villa, but she has no concerns because of how “down-to-earth” Kendall conducts herself.

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

Arsenal striker Alessia Russo said it felt like Kendall had “been here for years” as she slotted straight into the squad.

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