It was a perfect finish and gave Martin O’Neill the perfect start, which was all the more important because the performance was far from impressive.

The singing stops, Leo Messi is stifled, and a bad moon rises for Argentina.

Once the sound and the fury of Selhurst Park subsided, there was only silence in the Liverpool dressing room; silence and "devastation".

A night that was instructive rather than enthralling, as Ireland simply ran out of energy, and they didn’t quite offer the exhibition the new regime demanded.

It was to be expected in the press conference, but that’s perhaps also why Bayern Munich so relentlessly now live up to expectations on the pitch.

If the tone didn’t give it away by now, the length of time did.

As the lenses continued flashing, and the camera phones even started to come out, Roy Keane rolled his eyes. It was in mock frustration, but it’s hard not to think there was a significant element of sincerity to it.

As Ireland make the final preparations for their first game of the Euro 2016 campaign, keen to set the right tone, the team are likely to hear something like this.

“I read in the paper this team are watching this player, this player, this player. Well, they’re idiots because those players are so different, how can you look at three different players in the same position?

Stakes high as big guns battle for Champions League glory