The Aviva Stadium was almost lifted into orbit by a racuous home crowd who shook the ground to its foundations after Shane Duffy nodded home six minutes into last night's World Cup play-off against Denmark.
Eighty-four minutes later, you'd have found more atmosphere on the moon as home fans poured onto the streets of Dublin to find comfort and sanctuary in a warm pub.
Chrstian Eriken's tour de force broke Irish hearts but had everyone else cooing as Europe reacted to an emphatic display by Age Hareidsen's men.
In The Copenhagen Post Ben Hamilton says the hosts' fall from grace was evident in the half-time substitutions they made: "It was always going to be Denmark’s night if they could find their A game, and besides Eriksen, the likes of Pione Sisto and Andreas Christensen also rose to the challenge.
"If any one moment summed up the gulf in class, it was the home side’s double substitution at half-time. In the 1994 World Cup trailing 0-2 to the Netherlands, they were able to call on the likes of Jason McAteer and Tony ‘I once had an Irish wolfhound’ Cascarino from the bench.
"Tonight, again needing two goals to save the game, they threw on Aiden McGeady of Sunderland and Wes Hoolahan of Norwich City – two players at English Championship sides, the division that national coach Martin O’Neill recruits over half his squad from.
"History has shown you can win the English Premier League with kids, but you certainly can’t win the World Cup with a team from the English Championship."
Denmark qualify for the World Cup thanks to Eriksen hat-trickhttps://t.co/eaYmnNLfyy pic.twitter.com/ZASE3t5tnq
— AS English (@English_AS) November 14, 2017
Spanish publication AS felt the writing was on the wall from the off, despite Duffy breaking the deadlock: "The game started just as Ireland would have hoped when Shane Duffy headed home a long ball after six minutes.
"The home side, expected to be on the ropes for a lot of the game were really testing the theory that scoring too early is not a good thing. Denmark had a full 84 minutes to figure out a way past Ireland's back line. After some early success with chances, they knew they were onto something too."
In the Guardian, Paul Doyle says Ireland should actually be thankful this drubbing wasn't even uglier.
"And yet this could have been worse for Ireland. When challenged to be more enterprising they became more ragged. Perhaps lack of attacking practice had made them rusty.
"Several of Denmark’s goals had their origins in Irish blunders. But Darren Randolph made several good saves to prevent a heavier toll. The Danes were a match for Ireland physically and a class above them in terms of skill, fluency and ambition."
BBC Sport's Shamoon Hafez echoes those sentiments, and praises the work of the man who masterminded last night's thumping.
"Veteran manager Age Hareide took over after Morten Olsen's failure to reach Euro 2016 and under his guidance the team end 2017 unbeaten, having claimed five victories and four draws.
"They last suffered defeat over a year ago when they were beaten by Montenegro, but once they went ahead against the Republic they controlled the game, keeping possession and clinically taking their chances.
"They could have had more than five, with former Wigan midfielder William Kvist forcing Darren Randolph into a stunning, full-stretch save low to his right, while the Middlesbrough goalkeeper also pushed away Sisto's drive."
Absolute scenes as the Denmark players celebrate reaching the 2018 World Cup finals with the Eurosport pitch-side commentators 🍾 pic.twitter.com/7bMdd21Wnu
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) November 15, 2017
