Ireland's 2-0 win over Portugal on Thursday was improbable, impractical but maybe not that surprising.
While Ireland supporters have been burned badly for being optimistic about this team this autumn, Ireland do have a strange knack for summoning big performances against certain teams, and Portugal is one of those teams.
Troy Parrott's brace will be spoken about for ages, but the Ireland defence was composed and relentless throughout. They held Portugal's vaunted attack scoreless.
All played huge roles in that but Seamus Coleman's role felt especially huge, considering the context.
Coleman hadn't played for his club since the 5th of October. He has literally nothing left to prove to anyone in football. At 37, he'd be within his rights to be enjoying international retirement.
But it seems being dropped for the first two qualifying games has sparked something deep in him.
What's certain is that the re-introduction of Seamus Coleman into the Ireland squad in October brought with it a solidity that was badly lacking against Hungary and Armenia.
Not only did Coleman play all 97 minutes tonight, he played a gigantic role in neutralising Portugal's wide play and getting Ireland's attack moving.
Somewhere in the dying minutes of the game, a Portuguese player played an artful cross into Coleman's channel, and the Killybegs man pounced on it with the enthusiasm of a young man on his international debut.
As Coleman walked down the tunnel after fulltime, the TV cameras showed him embrace someone with dark hair and a grey hoodie.
That person had his back to the TV camera, so you couldn't see who it was.
However, Stephen McCarthy of Sportsfile was in the tunnel, and captured the moment. That person in the grey hoodie was Robbie Brady.
13 November 2025; Seamus Coleman of Republic of Ireland, left, and Robbie Brady celebrate after the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group F Qualifier match between Republic of Ireland and Portugal at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
It got us thinking and remembering back to Lille, the last time we felt something like this watching Ireland.
Seamus Coleman and Robbie Brady are the only two Ireland players from the Euro 2016 squad who are still in the reckoning for international selection.
Both played monumental roles in that victory. Brady's contribution will never be forgotten. Coleman put in a vintage performance himself.
How many big victories have Ireland had since that night? The wins in Cardiff and Vienna are the only ones that come to mind. The rest - especially recently - has been barren.
Flash forward nine years on from that night in Lille. Brady has been terribly missed this autumn. Hallgrímsson thought he didn't need Coleman, and then Yerevan happened.
And so two of the best to wear the green century this century shared a moment in that Aviva tunnel, 70 years between them.
Two men who haven't given up on that World Cup dream.
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