Socceroos left-back Aziz Behich has found the back of the net in only his sixth game for new club Dundee United in the Scottish Premiership.
The experienced defender joined Dundee United in July on a two-year deal after leaving Turkish side Giresunspor.
Dundee United – who sit last in the Scottish Premier League, defeated fifth-placed Aberdeen at home 4-0.
The former NPL player told The Courier that Saturday’s victory has relieved some “pressure” on the side.
“It was a long time coming,” Behich said.
“It’s not easy as a footballer with the results we’ve had, there was a lot of pressure.
“We know what the football club delivered last season and we want to do better this year.”
Behich grew up in the Northern suburbs of Victoria, playing his junior football for Green Gully and before he knew it, he was signed to Melbourne Victory’s youth team in 2009.
The reliable defender made a handful A-League appearances for Victory; however, he was never offered a senior contract.
"That was hard for me to take," he told ABC’s, Samantha Lewis.
"No A-League club wanted to give me a chance, so I kind of had to take a backward step.
"One part of me was saying, 'this could be it. Maybe it's just not my time.
“I went back to Hume City, which was my local team in Meadow Heights, got a part-time job at a factory, and then went to training in the evening. I thought I'd just stay there forever.
"But lucky enough, Melbourne Heart got formed that season. They offered me a week or two trial out in Ballarat, so I'd travel up every morning just for training sessions, and eventually, they offered me a six-week contract. I had time to prove myself then, ended up doing well and stayed there for a few more years. The rest is history."
Following a string of standout performances for Melbourne Heart, he started to gain interest from overseas.
"When I got the offer from Bursaspor in Turkey, it was a no-brainer for me," he said.
"Two years before I'd gone there, they'd won the league. They'd just played in the Champions League. They were one of the best clubs in the world.
"I grew up watching that league. I knew everything about that league. I wanted so much to experience that, but I never thought a club of Bursaspor's size would be interested in a kid from Meadow Heights.
"I'd only just played my first game for the Socceroos at the time, too, so I was on a high. Everything felt like it was falling into place."
It wasn’t too long later when Behich realised the move to Turkey would be more difficult than first anticipated.
"It was ruthless," he said.
"My first six months were so difficult. I didn't play a game.
“I was getting left out of the squad because obviously I wasn't well known there, and I was a young kid as well, so they didn't really care.
"So it was a really difficult period: I went from being a name coming out of the A-League, just playing my first game for Australia, to pretty much being non-existent over there.
"There were definitely times where I was like, 'let's just go home, it's easier back home. But the other part of me said, 'you've come this far, you've taken this big plunge forward. If I was to come back now, I would think I'd failed myself.'
"I never want to feel like that. I'm grateful I had that mentality because it's got me here today."
Pushing through the early adversity proved a virtue as he would go on to solidify his spot in the first team.
He stayed at Bursaspor until 2018, before eventually earning a big-money move to Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven for a reported $4.5 million before circling back to play in Turkey for the next four years.