Shamrock Rovers have had their fair share of big nights in Europe over the years but last Thursday's Europa Conference League group opener against Djurgardens was right up there.
The Hoops are back in a continental group stage for just the second time in their history - and fourth overall for any League of Ireland club thanks to Dundalk's contribution - and Stephen Bradley's side made a solid start to the campaign with a 0-0 draw at Tallaght Stadium against the Swedish title challengers.
Normally, it's a stage for more experienced players but Bradley pulled off a surprise when he named 17-year-old Justin Ferizaj in the starting 11.
The Ireland Under-19 midfielder had made several cameos in all competitions this season before being thrust into the deep end of a major European game.
But the youngster did not disappoint and his potential is exciting as former Drogheda United, Longford Town and Shamrock Rovers defender Graham Gartland outlined on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast as he and Ollie Cahill looked ahead to Thursday's second group game in Belgium against KAA Gent.
Gartland, who coaches Rovers' Under-14s, explained how the young midfielder has developed his game and his capacity for further progression.
"I think he's broken into the team through his hard work and his technical ability to take the ball in tight spaces," he said.
"Where I've seen the improvement in Justin from when he was younger was he dribbled a lot when he was younger.
"He would dribble a lot with the ball, go through gaps and he can go both ways. It's great to do that when you're 13, 14 and 15 because you can see in the game now, he can get out of tight spaces really well.
"But what he has also brought to the game is his ability to play one and two touches in tight spaces, and you can see that with the senior players. They trust him with the ball now.
"It's a big thing for senior players to trust 17-year-olds and punch the ball in to him and they know that he might take a few touches and give it back or play a through ball.
"So his development in his game understanding is a lot better. He also needed to work on when he lost the ball. But all of his reactions to losing the ball have been better. He gets back into his shape more, he knows where he needs to be defensively on the pitch and Stephen (Bradley) and Glenn (Cronin) have worked him on that as well.
"That's something as a youth team player you can get away with sometimes but at that level, at European level, you won't get away with not being in a good shape because you get picked off."
Gartland also shared an anecdote about Ferizaj's self-belief.
"The kid has an abundance of confidence. His confidence is already ridiculous. He backs himself in a good way," he said.
"I remember he was walking by training one day and I said, 'do you want to come in and talk to our group?'
"And one of the things I said was, 'what would you tell the group?' who were just 14 and he just basically said, 'believe in yourself'.
"I thought it was great because most people would say 'work hard'. But he said, 'make sure you believe in yourselves in what you're doing' and fair play to him. These nights, he just gets excited by it and European nights wouldn't faze Justin at all."
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