Girl belts out national anthem before LA Galaxy game

Sept. 24 (UPI) -- A little girl showed off her vocal range during the national anthem before the Los Angeles Galaxy beat the Seattle Sounders in Carson, Calif.

Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, 7, displayed her pipes prior to the Galaxy's 3-0 win on Sunday at StubHub Center. She walked out to the field as thousands of soccer fans watched and a large team flag was unfurled. Players from both teams smiled as the tiny Los Angeles native belted out the song while wearing a Galaxy jersey.

She started the song softly, before digging deep and adding some soul to the rendition. She ended the song by taking it up a few octaves while raising her arm in the air.

She offered a "thank you" to the crowd before waving and leaving the pitch. But the crowd's roar wouldn't be the last praise she received.

"MVP of the game," Galaxy star Zlatan Ibrahimovic tweeted after the game, posting a quote tweet from the Galaxy's video of Tjandrawidjaja's performance.

Tjandrawidjaja won the GalaxySocial national anthem contest to gain the opportunity for the performance. She found out that she was the winner of the contest on Wednesday.

Ibrahimovic scored the Galaxy's first goal on Sunday with a penalty kick in the 6th minute. Ola Kamara and Emmanuel Boateng also scored in the win. The Galaxy hosts the Vancouver at 10 p.m. on Saturday in Carson.

Tjandrawidjaja was closing in on 15,000 Instagram followers by Monday afternoon.