After delivering his first Socceroos heroics in a stadium named after superhero movies, Joe Gauci couldn't help but feel like the main character of his own film.

The 22-year-old Adelaide United goalkeeper made his case to be Mat Ryan's understudy in his international debut at Marvel Stadium on Tuesday night, impressing with three crucial saves in the 2-1 loss to Ecuador.

It was the same venue where he made his A-League Men debut for Adelaide United, with his family and girlfriend on hand, in March 2021.

"That was sort of the first thing I thought of when Arnie (coach Graham Arnold) told me yesterday I was playing," Gauci told reporters.

"It feels a little bit like a movie, I suppose, that it's the same place."

Turned to after Ryan was rested with a minor groin injury, Gauci took to international football like a duck to water.

He got down low with one hand to spectacularly deny Kevin Rodriguez in the fourth minute, batted away another Rodriguez effort in the 22nd minute and stopped Felix Torres from the subsequent corner.

But he could do nothing to stop Pervis Estupinan's penalty in the 53rd minute, nor William Pacho's excellent header from a corner 12 minutes later.

"In the A-League I get five frantic minutes at the start of the game and it just went like that for 90 minutes," Gauci said.

"It didn't really stop until the whistle went."

Gauci said he'd received plenty of support from Ryan and Andrew Redmayne and the coaching staff.

"They said to do what I do every week for Adelaide, play my game, don't try and be someone I'm not, I suppose, and play to my strengths," he said.

"I felt I was able to do that tonight."

Gauci wouldn't be drawn on his hopes of claiming more caps, instead eyeing a strong finish to the season and claiming silverware with Adelaide.

"After that, if I can be rewarded with another opportunity to come back into camp, that's something that I'll be looking forward to but at the same time, that's got all to do with my form at my club," he said.

"It was a fantastic debut and one that's going to put him in good stead for the future," Arnold said.

"Because now he feels like he actually belongs and that's one of the biggest things ... and there's plenty more of him to come."