In a parallel universe, the summer might have been very different for Eric Dier. Instead of the indignity of Iceland, he might have been the pride of Paris.
It seems a little preposterous initially, but a tall, gangly Anglo-Saxon looking player could have gate-crashed Portugal's party and been stood alongside Cristiano Ronaldo lifting the Henri Delaunay Trophy.
This, after all, is a young man who did his growing up in Portugal and came through the ranks at Sporting Lisbon.
And when he was a teenager, the Portuguese FA came calling for him.