While Gloukh, their midfield maestro, ended up stealing the show, Salzburg’s success was indebted just as heavily to an 18-year-old keeper making his senior debut.

Having been pressed into FIFA Club World Cup service, Christian Zawieschitzky immediately found himself in an enthralling duel with a star striker almost twice his age.

Salomon Rondon, Pachuca’s 35-year-old Venezuelan talisman, twice looked certain to score in the first half – first from a ferocious shot, then with a trademark header – only to be denied by stunning reflexes from his teenage adversary.

At the other end, Carlos Moreno - Zawieschitzky's Pachuca counterpart - had been enjoying a quieter time of things until, with just two minutes until half-time, he was let floundering by a moment of magic. 

Picking the ball up 25 yards from goal, Gloukh shaped to shoot with his left, cut inside his wrong-footed marker and curled an unstoppable right-foot shot into the far corner.

A lengthy thunderstorm-induced delay disrupted proceedings shortly after half-time, but there was a goal to cheer within minutes of the restart when Bryan Gonzalez restored parity with the first successful direct free-kick of this FIFA Club World Cup.

Salzburg were not to be denied victory, however, and snatched the points 14 minutes from time when Onisiwo rose highest to direct home Mads Bidstrup's inviting right-footed cross.

Next up for the Austrians is a meeting with Al Hilal in Washington, D.C., while Pachuca head to Charlotte to take on the mighty Real Madrid.