Stephen Kenny was named Ireland manager 17 months ago, yet the game on Wednesday may go down as the day that he was finally accepted as the right man to lead the national team.
Criticised from many angles since taking over from Mick McCarthy, Kenny's job was made tougher from the string of poor results that saw his side go 11 games without a win.
The poor start was compounded by a shock home defeat to Luxembourg as Ireland lost their opening two World Cup qualifiers, leaving them on zero points going into their third game, Wednesday’s outing in Portugal.
And the mood in the RTE studio ahead of the game did not sound too optimistic with Liam Brady and Didi Hamann both questioning the manager's approach thus far, considering the results produced under his tenure.
"Trying to play out from the back, unless you have midfield players who are capable and can really handle the ball and get out of tight situations, you are just going to lose possession," said Brady. "That's where his problem has been for me."
"Playing out from the back, if you haven't got the players, you can't play," added Hamann. "There are more ways than one to win football games. And if you haven't got the players, you have got to find a way of winning games. Because the punters, Liam and myself, we don't care how they get results, but you need to get results."
Another game, another defeat, as Ireland’s hopes of reaching the World Cup remain slim, yet there was something about the performance against the mighty Ronaldo and the star-studded Portugal side that has started to make people believe.
Solid in defence, Ireland looked organised and alert as they settled into the game in Faro before they started to put their own stamp on the game, the team moving in unison out of defence and into the spaces on the flanks, backed up by the hard-working midfield and exceptional wing-back play of Seamus Coleman and Matt Doherty.
Adam Idah turned a thankless task up front into a masterclass in leading the line for a striker so young, and likewise, the speed, if not composure, of fellow forward Aaron Connolly had the nation on the edge of their seats throughout.
Teenage goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu set the tone early on with a world class penalty save to make Ronaldo wait another 70-odd minutes to break the all-time international goalscoring record.
A set-piece goal had Ireland leading with 88 minutes on the clock and while that aforementioned record was finally blasted out of the water by the aerial excellence of the Portugal captain, the performance had already turned the doubters into believers.
By half-time, there was a much more upbeat tone from the television panel.
"What you haven't always seen is composure and confidence, but we've seen that so many times in the first half," said Brady.
"Ireland are playing some really, really good football, and Portugal are panicking. The two wing-backs Coleman and Doherty have been brilliant.
"The story of this match before the game was all about Ronaldo, but it should be all about Ireland now. This is the best performance under Kenny by far; it is confident, there is commitment, there is composure. I said this was a team for the future, let's hope now the future is the next match."
"Brilliant, absolutely brilliant," said Hamann, after the game. "You have to earn the right to play and that is what they did tonight. I've been coming here a while now and I'm not sure I've ever seen a better performance in the last few years from an Ireland team."
A new wave of young talent coming through the international age groups, Kenny has wasted no time getting the best on show decked out in senior green to create a new-look squad and one that now has real competition for places.
Kenny admitted after the game on Wednesday that he was not expecting such a performance to present itself so early into his international project, while lamenting the fact that the opportunity was not then seized upon.
And while the current campaign may prove a step too far for the new kids on the block, the goodwill for the manager to continue into the next European campaign appears to have increased significantly following the Portugal game.
Just three days to get over the disappointing finish in Faro before stepping out, once again, in the qualifying campaign, but the manager is determined to have learnt from the Luxembourg game and expects a winning performance from his side against Azerbaijan.
No doubt, Kenny would love to put the same XI back out on the pitch, as their showing in Portugal merited, however, there will be changes.
Dara O'Shea, for one, will not be playing later today as he has returned to his club following his ankle injury, which looked serious as he hit the turf in Portugal.
Andrew Omobamidele certainly put his hand up to keep that defensive transition as seamless as possible as the young Norwich defender looked composed and controlled sitting in the three alongside John Egan and Shane Duffy.
The manager will, no doubt, have the requisite analysis to gauge what players can physically go again, most notably those who are not playing regularly at club level.
As a result, Kenny could make a straight swap in midfield with Conor Hourihane coming in for Jeff Hendrick, while he will surely be tempted to hand Troy Parrott a starting berth, with Aaron Connolly getting a well-earned break.
Jamie McGrath performed well in Portugal on his first senior start and may well be asked to play that creative role against a weaker side. The roll could allow the St Mirren man to show a lot more of what he is about, and with his eye for goal, combined with his set-piece delivery, he has a great chance of staying involved.
Callum Robinson has returned to the squad following his Covid-enforced layoff, and the West Brom man will surely be accommodated by the manager who is a big fan of the West Brom forward.
Kenny may feel that he can get by with two in midfield, flanked by the marauding wing-backs of Coleman and Doherty, which would allow him to put a three-man attack on the field.
Either way, Kenny is naming an attacking formation and is planning to go all out for a victory.
Yet it will be a victory on his terms, as the same fundamentals will remain in his tactics, playing out from the back, encouraging players to be comfortable on the ball and remain composed.
Following the flawed goal-kick routine in the game in Portugal, which led to the penalty after ten minutes of the game, the manager admitted that it was a bit risky, however, he is not ruling out the tactic for future games.
Kenny gave an insight into his thinking of such plays, while stressing that they were not set in stone and the option always remains to chip the ball into the front men and away from danger.
"That wasn’t the wisest decision alright; that was too high risk for sure," said Kenny about the ill-fated goal-kick.
"But we are not going to change because of one mistake. We are geared towards playing that way – that doesn’t mean we can’t kick it out and beat the press by chipping it into Adam Idah so he can hold it up and play."
Also speaking at the pre-match press conference, Matt Doherty outlined the benefits of the play in general terms and it is one that he feels can really help a team to turn defence into attack.
"I think there is a definite advantage if you are comfortable enough on the ball, which we are," said Doherty.
"Once you beat the initial press the game really opens up and you have a lot of space and a lot of grass to run into, with not many of their players.
"I know obviously we made a mistake from it the other day, but when I watch highlights of games around the world I don’t see that many goals or mistakes coming from short goal-kicks.
"We don’t really have a problem doing it. I guess there are times when we would just not do it, when it’s coming up close to half-time or they are really on top of us, or near the end of the game, when it just wouldn't happen.
"You pick and choose your moments, but we are quite fortunate that we have very good goalkeepers in the squad who are really comfortable with the ball at their feet.
"It’s almost like playing it back to another player, they are that good with their feet. I guess we’ve just got full confidence and belief in what our goalkeepers are capable of."
Looking at the opposition for today’s game, Azerbaijan are expected to sit in with a compact unit in front of goal, while looking to play counter-attacking football.
They usually employ a 5-3-2 system and will be difficult to break down, while it remains to be seen if Legia Warsaw’s in-form striker Mahir Emreli will start as the manager likes to chop and change the forwards.
Azerbaijan fought back against Luxembourg on Wednesday in the second half and were perhaps unlucky not to get an equaliser, however, Kenny is maintaining the focus on his own side and will no doubt have a plan in place to work through the tight lines of defence.
"We need good attacking play and we need to show out quality in wide areas and the interchange between the attacking players. We need cohesive, creative play and this is what we need to break them down," said Kenny.
Overall, the manager is confident that the first competitive victory will come against Azerbaijan and a convincing performance would certainly build momentum going into Tuesday’s vital game with Serbia.
Luxembourg and Serbia face each other later today with the two teams second and third in the race for that play-off place.
Two wins would give Ireland something to play for for the remainder of the campaign, and while there is a strong possibility that even with a good run of results, Ireland would still come up short for the World Cup play-offs, the future path of this emerging young team would appear in very good health.
Follow the Republic of Ireland v Azerbaijan via our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app, watch live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, or listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport.
