Socceroos winger Daniel Arzani has gone under the knife in Spain after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament during his senior debut for Scottish side Celtic.
The 19-year-old appeared to come out of surgery not long after Australia beat Lebanon 3-0 at Sydney's ANZ Stadium on Tuesday night in their final hitout before next year's Asian Cup.
Arzani will play no part in the Socceroos' 2015 title defence in the United Arab Emirates and is likely to have nine months of rehabilitation ahead of him.
But the teenage sensation can't wait to begin his road to recovery.
"Surgery done and dusted, so so so keen to get started," a smiling Arzani posted on Instagram on Tuesday from his Barcelona hospital bed.
Fellow Australian young gun Awer Mabil, who played 66 minutes during his maiden Socceroos start, was keen for Arzani to return to the national set-up as he hatches plans to form a speedy strike force.
"For Australian football, I think they should be excited about when Danny comes back," Mabil said on Monday.
"Me and Danny hopefully could learn from the older boys that are playing now and one day entertain the Australian crowd and win games for Australia.
"That's how I look at it. I don't look at it 'Danny was injured, now it's my chance.' It's not like that. Danny's my teammate and we use each other to get better."
Arzani's head-turning performances at the World Cup in Russia helped glean him a high-profile move to Manchester City before joining fellow Socceroo Tom Rogic at Celtic on a two-year loan.
He broke into Brendan Rodgers' side earlier this month as a substitute only to be stretchered off 22 minutes into his Hoops debut.