A raucous stadium filled with almost 50,000 people cheering against you probably isn't an experience a teenager from Te Puke can easily prepare for, but All White Ryan Thomas has showed he is a young man capable of dealing with any challenges thrown his way.
Thomas (19) made his senior All Whites debut in today's international clash against Japan in Tokyo, a game which didn't begin so well for the young New Zealand team.
But after that initial rocky period left them in a 4-0 hole, the All Whites grew into the game against a Japanese side which is probably under-valued by a current FIFA ranking of 50, when you consider the likes of Manchester United and AC Milan stars Shinji Kagawa and Keisuke Honda are in their incredibly destructive mix.
But Thomas, who played a central role in the team's improvement across the 90 minutes, said that after his early acclimatisation the game came easier for him.
"The first 10 minutes was very poor but after that we settled down, got the ball moving around a bit and I think we did well towards the end," Thomas said.