Lucas Paqueta proves West Ham wrong in 'beautiful' Brazil World Cup moment
Lucas Paqueta left West Ham United reeling after his showcase for Brazil against Haiti overnight.
The Irons waved goodbye to the attacking midfielder in January as he sealed a move to Flamengo.
There was plenty of controversy surrounding his exit as the London Stadium club wanted to keep him.
The number 10 made it clear that he wanted to move on after everything that went on with his spot fixing charges from the FA.
That didn't go down particularly well with the claret and blue faithful who have often taken aim at his struggles back in his homeland.
Paqueta is now at the World Cup with Brazil and has proven a point to the Hammers fans who doubted him.
Lucas Paqueta 'brilliant' in Brazil win vs Haiti
Carlo Ancelotti's side were obviously expected to win against the tournament debutants, but nothing is ever a given.
Scotland proved that that things can be difficult, so the Selecao needed to take their second group clash seriously.
They did exactly that as a Matheus Cunha brace and a Vinicius Jr strike helped to seal a 3-0 win.
The latter completed the scoring and came around after some excellent work from Paqueta.
His ball found the Real Madrid star inside the penalty area and left him just needing to provide a finishing touch.
That all left BBC Sport commentator Jonathan Pearce in awe as he heaped praise on the former Hammers star.
He said: "They've had some very strong first-half performances. Paqueta has been excellent.
"He played his role there; cool as you like [from Vinicius Jr]. He took it so well. Beautiful ball to him, lovely goal."
Paqueta proves point to West Ham with World Cup heroics for Brazil
The criticism aimed towards the 28-year-old has been pretty consistent from East London.
With just three league goals since his return to Flamengo, that doesn't come as a surprise, but he made his chance count on the world stage.
Paqueta obviously grabbed an assist as he maintained a 94 per cent pass accuracy and created two chances on the day.
He also completed four out of five long ball attempts, while also chipping in defensively with one tackle, three interceptions and nine recoveries.
The Irons faithful will be looking on wondering where that sort of quality was before his E20 exit and what has happened after his South America return.