It was a whirlwind couple of days for Marcus Godinho.
On March 9, 2018, he made his Scottish Premiership debut for Hearts in an Edinburgh Derby against Hibernian. Just a day later, he found out that he had been called up for the first time by the Canadian men's national team.
Godinho jetted off to San Pedro de Pinatar, Spain, for what was the dawn of a new era for Canadian soccer. Having just been named the new CanMNT boss in January, this was John Herdman's first camp in charge.
The then frosted-tip-sporting 20-year-old full-back says he can't speak to what things were like before Herdman took over, but said it was clear from day one that the foundations for something special were being laid within the team.
"What he brought, I felt, was a real kind of brotherhood to the team," said Godinho. "Everybody really cared about each other, everybody wanted to play for each other, everybody was passionate. Everybody wanted to be there. We wanted to wear the shirt, and that was a big thing.
"We had a really close group right from the beginning."
As part of the camp, Canada faced New Zealand in an international friendly on March 24. Starting on the bench, Godinho made his debut in first-half stoppage time after an injury suffered by Michael Petrasso.
Early in the second half, Canada scored the match's only goal, as former Forge FC central defender Dejan Jakovic played in Tosaint Ricketts over the top, who finished the chance past New Zealand goalkeeper Max Crocombe.
Godinho was one of three players who made their senior debut that day, joining Liam Millar and David Wotherspoon.
"I felt like the style of football we were playing, you could see the start of a change," said Godinho.
The camp was the beginning of a historic cycle for the Canadian men's national team, who, under Herdman, qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 36 years in 2022.
Godinho would go on to make five appearances for Canada at the senior level, including three at the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup -- where he played on the opposite flank to a young Alphonso Davies, who was getting some of his first reps as a full-back.
After spending the better part of a decade playing in Europe, between Scotland, Germany, Poland and most recently Sweden, Godinho is back in Canada. Wanting to be back in his home country, as it hosted matches during the 2026 World Cup, was a motivation for returning.
"I think there's a real buzz around soccer in Canada now, in the CPL and in the country in general," said Godinho. "That's kind of had a ripple effect on the CPL. I think there's a lot of excitement in the league. It's really growing. So I just felt that this is the right time to be back in the country, to be part of it in some capacity."
A big part of that is bringing his wealth of experience and quality from playing top-flight soccer in Europe back to his home country, and providing the next generation with key insights to follow in his footsteps.