"I never thought I'd play a lead role at this Copa."

This forthright admission by Chile's Jose Pedro Fuenzalida was at once striking and entirely understandable. After all, the 31-year-old did not play a minute at either the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ or last year's Copa America on home turf, despite being in the squad.

But it has been a whole different story at the Copa America Centenario. So different, in fact, that having made his mark while being asked to operate anywhere and everywhere along the right-hand side, he is considered nailed-on to start in the final against Argentina on Sunday 26 June.

Even then, this success has not come easy for Fuenzalida, who was named on the bench for the holders' opener against none other than Argentina. However, introduced as a late substitute up the flank, he scored just eight minutes later, in the process ending La Roja's 57-year goal drought against La Albiceleste in this competition – it is worth remembering that the 2015 final between the two teams finished 0-0, with Chile only coming out on top on penalties. He was once more brought on as a sub in the second game, against Bolivia, on this occasion replacing Mauricio Isla at full-back. So impressively did he perform again that Juan Antonio Pizzi has found a place for him in his starting XI ever since: on the wing against Panama, at right-back in the thrashing of Mexico, and once more as an attacking wide man in the 2-0 semi-final win over Colombia.

Fuenzalida had a big hand in the first goal against the Colombians and then netted the second himself. The upshot is that, in the space of five Copa matches, he has doubled the tally of goals that he had managed for his country in 24 previous caps after being handed his debut by Marcelo Bielsa in 2008.

The man of the moment has revelled in this run of games. "Being involved is important," he told the newspaper La Tercera. "In these tournaments when matches come thick and fast every four days, playing keeps you sharp and focused, and it makes me happy."

A tale of patience and perseverance The versatility Fuenzalida has been showing is nothing new – it is one of his hallmarks and even stretches beyond the pitch. After starting his career at Universidad Catolica in 2004, he took a voluntary six-month hiatus in 2007 to study commercial engineering, before coming back to play the following year at Colo-Colo, another of Chile's biggest clubs.

It was around this point that he began to figure in the international picture, although he was granted precious little action – and even fewer starts – by Bielsa. Indeed, despite two highly productive seasons on loan at O'Higgins, he was overlooked for the squad that went to South Africa 2010.

Nevertheless, Fuenzalida never threw in the towel – in part because successive Chile coaches carried on calling him up, even if he still only played intermittently. In another telling snapshot, he was taken to Brazil 2014 by Jorge Sampaoli, but once more went unused.

This understated, modest master of many trades – he is also an accomplished guitar player – kept his head down and stuck at it, first back at Colo-Colo and then trying his luck with Boca Juniors. Yet again restricted to a bit-part role in Argentina, he opted to return to La Católica nine years after he left.

While it is true that he took some time to find his feet, Fuenzalida shot back to prominence at the tail end of the Clausura campaign and proved decisive in the last match, scoring the goal that clinched the club's first trophy in six years.

Even still, many questioned his inclusion in Chile's Copa America Centenario squad, forcing Pizzi to come out and defend his decision: "With his performances in the latter stages of the season, Fuenzalida has shown that he's on top form. We have to take advantage of that." So convincingly have they done so that there is now a virtual consensus about Fuenzalida starting the final, in which he is expected to line up on the right of a front three, alongside Alexis Sanchez and Eduardo Vargas.

Perhaps it is his mother, Rosario, who has most aptly summed up her son's current purple patch: "What he's experiencing right now is amazing. It's no less than he deserves: it's a reward for putting his heart into everything he does and for his persistence. The other day he said this to me on WhatsApp: 'Mum, I've learned to never give up until the end.' He's got a hugely positive mindset and that's why things have worked out for him."

Thanks to this attitude, Chile's erstwhile eternal understudy is at long last basking in the international limelight, just when he least expected it.