One September night in Belfast in 2006, a young Andres Iniesta sat among the substitutes as sorry Spain were somehow beaten by David Healy’s hat-trick for Northern Ireland.
That night ended not only with an embarrassing setback, but with furious calls for the sacking of national team manager Luis Aragones.
And while it wouldn’t be long before Spain – with Iniesta in a starring role – took home their first trophy in 44 years by beating Germany in the European Championship final in Vienna in the summer of 2008, nobody would have expected it back then.
Less so a few weeks after Belfast when - in a must-win game away at Sweden - Spain did the unthinkable and lost again.