Michelle Agyemang took 41 seconds to demonstrate England quality but her journey is far longer

In just 41 seconds, the trajectory of Michelle Agyemang’s summer and life changed.

The 19-year-old would likely have been expecting to spend the off-season representing the Young Lionesses at the Under-19 Euros in Poland.

Instead, she finds herself in Switzerland, with the senior squad as they defend their Euros title. She does so with one cap to her name and as the youngest member of the squad by almost two years.

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But if you need any convincing of her place in the squad, it’ll take less than a minute to prove she is worth it. But before you consider the present, this is how Michelle Agyemang made it to the big stage.

Always Arsenal

Born in South Ockenden in 2003, Agyemang had plenty of choice for which football team to support.

The Agyemang family includes a Manchester United-supporting dad, a Chelsea fan for a brother, and her sister is a West Ham supporter.

But for Agyemang, it was always going to be Arsenal as she grew up admiring Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott - a fellow wonderkid.

Introduced to football by her dad, a grassroots coach, Agyemang was snapped up by her beloved Gunners at the age of six.

“I had a coach called Lynn, and she just gave me a pair of football boots, and I joined in with the boys’ Under-7s team,” Agyemang told GOAL. “I was the only girl in the team, but I really enjoyed it.”

A sign of her talent, Agyemang often played one or two age grades above with Arsenal, something she was soon doing for England.

While at Arsenal, she was not short of role models as she regularly watched the women’s team play.

She added: “We got our shirts signed by Jordan Nobbs. We had Leah [Williamson] as well. There was one game specifically that I do remember with Kelly Smith, and then she ended up being my forwards coach last year.

“Even Anita now, my [England] U23s coach," Agyemang recalled. “It's interesting because back in the day, they were like the main faces of women's football, so to see them still part of it now is great.

“Then also to learn from them, to know how good they were, especially someone like Kelly in a similar position to me, it's always great to learn from her and put that in my game as well.”

Train to play

Any question of how Agyemang is so good so young is quickly answered when you hear from her teammates.

While at Arsenal’s academy, she regularly trained with the senior team and gave a memorable first impression to her now skipper at England, Leah Williamson.

“She came and flattened me,” Williamson told the Independent. “I was too slow on it, and I think I gave her a bit of stick about it, but in my head, I thought: ‘You need to move the ball quicker, because she’s got something about her’.

“I was screaming for a pass, and she put it top bins, and I thought: ‘I ain’t going to say nothing.’

“So my first impression was she let me know she was there, which I love.

“As a young player coming through, you can do all the fancy flicks and tricks you want, but somebody needs to know about you, and you need to tell people that you’re there, and that’s what she does.”

Jen Beattie had a similar experience, seeing her score a worldie in training, and it led to the proud Scot cheering for an England goal when Agyemang scored a similar goal on debut.

Speaking to the BBC’s Women’s Football Weekly podcast, Beattie said: “I kid you not - she would do that in training.

“She is an incredible box player, an unbelievable finisher. She doesn't need more than one or two touches, exactly what you saw against Belgium.”

Take notice

There is a versatility to Agyemang that perhaps comes from her career path.

She has played across age groups for both club and country, and also experienced loan moves as well as playing for Arsenal.

It helped prepare her for the last-minute call-up she received to the senior England squad after an injury to Alessia Russo during the international break.

On Sunday, the forward had played a match for England’s U19 against Austria and on Tuesday, she was named on the bench for the senior team in Belgium.

She was called on to replace Jess Park in the 80th minute with England 3-1 down against the Red Flames.

Forty-one seconds later, she had her first goal and what a goal it was.

With her first touch, she controlled the ball off her knee, with her second, she volleyed home a sumptuous strike that made everyone sit up and take notice.

“To come on, make my debut and score [in Belgium] was out of this world,” Agyemang said to the Guardian.

“All I remember is the cross in from Leah [Williamson]. It was such a surreal moment, and I’m so grateful for it.

“There are so many more things to come, and I’m just really grateful, once again, for the opportunity.”

The clamours to take Agyemang to the Euros began fervently, and it seemed like Sarina Wiegman was heeding them when the youngster was called up to the next England camp outright.

Major moment

And now she prepares for her first major tournament.

It is a lot of pressure for a 19-year-old, but she has composure beyond her years and is gladly listening to those around her.

"Just enjoy it,” said Agyemang of the advice she’s received. “So many people have told me that this is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of opportunity.

“The way the women’s game has grown, it’s so massive now. To be a part of that is invaluable. So I’m taking it all in and having fun.”

To temper expectations, Agyemang could well remain on the bench for all of England’s games at the Euros.

With Alessia Russo installed as the leader of England’s frontline and Aggie Beever-Jones set to act as this tournament’s super sub, it may take an injury for Agyemang to make it on.

But if you ask the manager who has been her coach for the past season at Brighton & Hove Albion, it is all about the long-term goal.

“She will be a household name sooner rather than later,” Dario Vidosic said.

“She's got a beautiful strike, she knows how to hit a ball, she's dangerous, she possesses a lot of weapons.

"I think she has everything to be one of the best strikers in the country.

"The message is 'you haven't made it now'. That's only day one. You've got the first cap, but I think the goal is, 'I want to have 100 caps. I want to have 150 caps'."