After the euphoria of the defeat of Germany, Irish football was brought crashing back down to the earth in Warsaw, as Poland booked their place at the Euro 2016 finals leaving Martin O’Neill’s men to try to seek entry to France through the back door of the play-offs, the draw for which will take place on Sunday.

“L‘Silenzio stampa” is not a phrase that does not translate into Polish, which is why their FA president Zbigniew Boniek stuck to the Italian version of the word “media blackout” to describe the Poland team’s lockdown ahead of Sunday’s winner-takes-all final qualifier for an automatic place at Euro 2016.