“It means 'one life; one chance' in Greek,” the 17-year-old striker told au.fourfourtwo.com.

Over the last few years, Makarounas has taken his chance for the purple shirts and the green and gold.

On Saturday night at nib Stadium, he made his debut as a half-time substitute against Melbourne Victory.

With the home-side 2-1 down, the youngest player in the Glory squad was thrown on in an unfamiliar central midfield role.

Nevertheless, he played his part in a storming second half as Glory swept past the visitors 4-2.

“It was definitely good to get my debut out of the way," he said. "I think I’ve waited 27 weeks so it was good to get it under the belt and now play a few more games.

“Playing against Hernandez, Archie and Harry – nothing more than I could ask for and I probably got longer than I expected.”

And for those with longer memories, as a 15 year old, Makarounas scored for Glory in a pre-season game against Gold Coast United two years ago.

Makarounas also took his chance last year at the U17 World Cup in Mexico.

After winning the Golden Boot at the AFC U16s the previous year in Tashkent, Makarounas scored a vital group stage goal against Ivory Coast to help Australia to a 2-1 win.

“It was a surreal experience and one I’ll have for life,” he said of a tournament in which the Joeys reached the round of 16.

“Playing against Brazil, Ivory Coast and Denmark. You’d think Brazil would be the best but Ivory Coast were so strong.”

They were. After the impressive striker Souleymane Coulibaly had opened the scoring for Ivory Coast, Makarounas dragged the game back for the Aussies.

After a give and go with Hernan Espindola, the Glory teen scored from distance to level the contest 1-1.

The Joeys went on the win the game 2-1 with West Australian Dylan Tombides bagging the winner.

"Scoring against them was a great memory. Hopefully I can play for the national team again one day," he added.

Little wonder Makarounas was marked down as a Glory star of the future from his early days.

And it’s no surprise then that he’s come through the local NTC under the guidance of coaching stars Kenny Lowe and Gareth Naven.

The talented pair is producing highly skillful footballers who seemingly get signed by a myriad of overseas and A-League clubs.

“I think a lot of credit has to go to Kenny and Gareth,” said Makarounas, who’s also been a student at the AIS.

“They are obviously great coaches which is shown by the number of players who’ve been produced under them who’ve gone on to play A-League.

“They’ve got a good process in place. They work on the technical and tactical side. And they play the 4-3-3 system, which fits in with the national curriculum.

“They are probably two of my favourite coaches ever.”

How players like Makarounas fit in with the current style of Glory – which is effective, physical and direct – is something that the fans and media will no doubt debate.

Meanwhie the rising star has the finals to savour with Melbourne Heart on their way to Perth this weekend.

It should be a cracker. And for Makarounas, there’s always Shane Smeltz – a four-goal hero from Saturday night - to provide a touch of inspiration.

“He’s someone I can learn off," said the youngster. "He’s got such good technique and he works his backside off in training. He’s the player I want to be."