Canada's Lara Kazandjian scored one of the goals of the tournament so far

She comes from the same area in Montreal as head coach Rhian Wilkinson

Their connection goes back more than seven years ago

At the age of 16 Lara Kazandjian has accomplished things that many people never will in their lifetime: she speaks three languages (Armenian, French and English) and she’s scored a goal at a World Cup.

At 151 centimetres she may be one of the shortest players at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Uruguay 2018 but she’s already made a big impact, scoring one of the most impressive goals of the tournament so far - and her first ever at U-17 level at that - to cap off a 2-0 victory for Canada that sealed their place in the knockout rounds.

“I honestly don’t remember exactly what happened,” she told FIFA.com. “But it was a really good feeling to see that ball go into the net.” When asked how many times she was going to watch the goal back, she replied: “Probably a lot of times! It’s a moment that I’m never going to forget.”

When Kazandjian was a nine-year-old, Rhian Wilkinson visited her club team Lakeshore to talk about her journey as an Olympian during her preparation to play for Canada at the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament London 2012.

Fast forward six years and Kazandjian is scoring crucial goals at a World Cup. Her head coach? Rhian Wilkinson.

“I find it really cool how things turn out,” Kazandjian said. “She continues to inspire me.”