Yoane Wissa will show the world why Newcastle United paid £55million to sign him from Brentford last summer, if he is given 'time to express his talent'.
That is the verdict of former Arsenal and Manchester City Premier League winner Gael Clichy, who was left impressed by Wissa's display during DR Congo's 1-1 draw with Portugal at the World Cup.
Wissa scored DR Congo's equaliser, rising highest to head brilliantly past Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa to not only cap his World Cup debut with a goal but also to score his country's first ever goal in the competition.
It sparked wild celebrations, both inside the NRG Stadium in Houston and back in DR Congo itself and it was a real positive moment on the back of a difficult campaign at club level.
Wissa managed just three goals across all competitions in his first season at the club and was injured for the first three months of his time on Tyneside.
He has been playing catch up in terms of his fitness ever since but looked as sharp as he has done all season playing alongside Real Betis forward Cedric Bakambu and Clichy hopes it will be a springboard for Wissa ahead of his second season at Newcastle.
"When you give him time and you give him time to express his talent, he will show why he went to Newcastle for this much money," Clichy said during BBC's coverage of the game.
"I think it was a great goal. I am surprised to see him score that [type of] goal but I am very happy for him. I think he worked really hard and as Wayne said I think the structure and balance of the team throughout the whole game was fantastic."
Wissa spoke to reporters in the aftermath of the game and admitted he felt as if DR Congo had shown their capabilities to the world in managing to secure a point against the Group K favourites.
"I don't realise yet about this because, for me, the most important thing was to make a point today to say that we are here, we are back and we are happy to be there," Wissa told Amplify Africa after the game.
"Today we have shown big, big resilience because we needed to show the world that we are strong mentally. As you said, it was tough in the beginning, really tough, it was the first game for all of us to be in that stage.
"They are used to be playing this kind of fame so we were shy and after the goal we showed a better face in the second half. I am really happy for the players, all of the staff members, all of the fans who showed up today because we needed that.
"Playing in the Premier League against them, I wasn't shy because I am used to playing against them, but I need to bring my experience and that is what I have done.
"I said to the players to be calm. We just needed one chance to come back and I think we had even more chances to even score one more goal. I think that is good and I am really pleased today."
DR Congo continue their World Cup campaign against Colombia in Guadalajara in the early hours of Wednesday morning before rounding off their group campaign against Uzbekistan in the early hours of Sunday, June 28, in Atlanta.
