A young Brazilian who stands 5-foot-2 and makes the soccer ball do her bidding has lifted the San Diego Wave back to the ranks of the National Women’s Soccer League’s more-interesting teams.

And none too soon.

Thanks to Maria Eduarda Rodrigues Silva – Dudinha, for short – coming aboard in August and summoning her best Pele down the stretch, the No. 6-seeded Wave have a better shot of upending the third-seeded Portland Thorns in a first-round playoff match Sunday in Portland.

Dudinha is a Portuguese term of endearment for the name Eduarda, which means rich and blessed guard.

On the NWSL pitch Dudinha translates into a rookie outdoing athletes who are bigger, stronger and much more experienced.

With five goals over the team’s final five matches, including the lone tally in a 2-1 road loss last Sunday against the league-best Kansas City Current, the Wave newbie finished tied for team scoring honors.

This, despite missing most of the season and being young enough to address Taylor Swift as ma’am.

“That’s just a credit to her individual skills,”  Wave forward Makenzy Doniak said of the 20-year-old forward-midfielder. “She’s a very good attacker, very good finisher.”

“We just support her and as a team just rally around that and just keep helping her with anything she needs,” added Doniak, 31.

It isn’t Dudinha alone, of course, who has driven the Wave’s emergence from a goal-less stretch of four games and other mid- or late-season detours.

There’s a number of refined playmakers on hand led by the French tandem of right wing Delphine Cascarino, who had six assists and five goals, and defensive midfielder Kenza Dali, who put up five goals and three assists.

But the Wave’s offense was in dire need of a reboot, both before and after Dudinha made her first NWSL start on Sept. 16.

The season began very well under new coach Jonas Eidevall and several additions to the roster.

As several opponents improved at understanding them, however, the new-look Wave saw their goal-scoring flow dwindle to a trickle, if that, as the season slogged on.

“We had to realize that teams now know us and our strengths,” said Doniak. “So, we just have to implement those strengths even more, and really improve some of our things we have to work on.”

Done and done, said Doniak.

“We’re in a good spot, and we’re ready for Sunday,” she said ahead of Saturday’s workout on the Thorns’ carpeted field. “To still have belief in the group really helps us.”

Whether or not Dudinha can score for the fourth straight game, this match will serve up a vivid contrast in style of play and approaches to roster-building.

The Wave have above-average ball skill in all three lines, enabling them to lead the 14-team league in ball possession and finish second in assists and third in goals.

The Thorns had a better season on defense. They’re comfortable playing without the ball, an unusual skill.

Also, they have the confidence that comes from overcoming not having their best two offensive players all season: world-class wing Sophia Wilson (nee Smith), who gave birth to her and husband Adrian Wilson’s first child — a girl — in September; and wing Morgan Weaver, sidelined by a knee injury since early 2024.

Most of Portland’s roster core comprises players drafted from universities in the United States. Beyond Smith (Stanford) and Weaver (Washington State) are world-class defensive midfielder Sam Coffey (Penn State) and top forward Reilyn Turner (UCLA).

And the team’s leading scorer, attacking midfielder Olivia Moutrie, with eight goals, is an American youth-soccer product from Santa Clara who signed with the Thorns five years ago at age 15.

Wave general manager Camille Ashton was a versatile player for the program’s first national titlist. She signed University of North Carolina defender Trinity Armstong, a Wave mainstay now as a rookie.

But the International House of Pancakes would be an apt Wave sponsor.

The bulk of the offensive success has come from Ashton’s international signees who, in addition to Dudinha, Cascarino and Dali, include offensively skilled French defender Perle Morroni (four assists), Canadian forward Adriana Leon (five goals) and aggressive German midfielder Gia Corley (three assists, two goals and a team-high five yellow cards).

Sunday on the Thorns’ carpeted field, it’s only the destination that will concern each team.

By avoiding the playoff outcome that the first Wave team suffered at Portland in October 2022 — a loss, by a 2-1 score, highlighted by U.S. national team standout Crystal Dunn’s banger in the final moments — the Wave would book the franchise’s third postseason semifinals match in four years.