Another case of history repeating itself, as the Republic of Ireland find themselves all but out of qualification contention after just two games of the Euro 2024 campaign.
The defeat by France in the opening group game was understandable considering Didier Deschamps side had just reached their second consecutive World Cup final, and the Ireland performance augured well for a good pop at the Dutch to snatch the second automatic place for next year's tournament.
A second consecutive loss, to the fourth ranked side, would be extremely disappointing in normal circumstances, however, in the context of this group it is effectively fatal.
Ireland would have to do something extraordinary to go and qualify out of the group at this stage, and being honest, the group have looked particularly ordinary over the past 12 months.
The previous campaign, the Nations League, the one that Stephen Kenny was targeting to win, mirrors the current Euro group, as Ireland lost their opening two games to Armenia, followed by a home defeat to Ukraine, while the 2022 World Cup qualifying group was also over before it really got going thanks to opening defeats to Serbia, Luxembourg and then Portugal.
Looking back to when the draw was made for the Euro 2024 qualifying groups, there was no doubt that Ireland got hit with the worst possible group, and while the idea of qualification was certainly seen as an outside chance, at best, the team would still have been expected to be competitive and maintain an interest and an influence in proceedings right up to the business end in October and November.
Six points from the opening three games would have been the lowest tally that Ireland could take into the summer break, while there would have been a glimmer of hope that the French might still be coming to terms with their World Cup defeat.
Fine margins indeed, as Ireland did, to their credit, come very close to matching the mighty French on the day, only for one misplaced pass, a cracking finish and a world class save at the death.
A point on that opening day would certainly have allowed Ireland to have belief and momentum to take into the rest of the campaign, but whatever the France game gave, the Greeks swiftly took it away.
When drawn in a group with France and the Netherlands there are two main elements that the lower ranked sides must bring into their approach to their campaign – confidence and realism.
Gus Poyet summed it up perfectly before and after the game as he spoke candidly about the reality of Ireland and Greece’s situation in such a group.
The former Chelsea man said that his team would certainly have belief going through the qualification campaign but added that "realistically" it was going to be very tough to beat the Netherlands or France.
Which is why he had no problem calling the clash with Ireland for what it was, "a must-win for both sides", and then speaking after the victory he added that his side now would have the confidence to go and take on the big teams.
Kenny, on the other hand, would not be so bold before the game, stating that it was too early in the campaign to be so definitive.
Poyet also explained the Ireland predicament for the remainder of their campaign, stating that their low levels of confidence will make it virtually impossible to bring back that hope.
The Greece boss got his tactics spot on for the game, and while the Ireland management and players were confident in their plan on how to beat Poyet’s side, they failed to anticipate the problems that would prevent such a scenario from happening.
"We knew Ireland would play one of two systems and were prepared for both," said Poyet, speaking at the post match press conference.
"We worked to prepare under their two mains systems, 5-4-1 and 5-3-2. We had the suspicion that it would be two strikers, so we put a lot of emphasis on the size and the fullbacks, how to drag them one way and switch to the other side, to be able to attack. It sounds very easy, but you have to do it in the game.
"We knew maybe one of the two, [Ireland] and us, one maybe will have a chance to go out fighting.
"To be able to be there, you needed to beat each other. If not, then you have no chance.
"Obviously, you need to also do well against the Netherlands, but especially this game, you must win it. If you think you're going to win the other ones, then you are not realistic, so that was, for me, a must-win game for both teams.
"It gives us then the feeling to go to France in a different way because now we have got six points. It's a different game with six points than one and if you don't get something, you're out, so it was very, very important."
From Ireland’s perspective, preparations could not have been more meticulous with the Bristol training camp and hot-weather acclimatisation in Turkey for nine days before flying to Athens.
The manager and the team have been fully supported, and as a result, the performance in Greece will be scrutinised as to how it could go so wrong.
And it begs the question, whether Liam Brady is right in saying that Kenny just does not have the quality of player at his disposal, or whether the current management is not getting enough out of the players?
"Some of the players played below their levels. I take responsibility for that," said Kenny, speaking at the post match press conference. "That's my job to get them to play to the level that they need to to, so we're disappointed with that."
As for the future, the manager would not be drawn on whether he will still be in charge of the team following the Gibraltar game on Monday night and the subsequent summer break.
"I hear what you're saying," said the manager, when asked was he worried about his future.
"I'm disappointed with the game. I'm not concerned about myself at the moment.
"I have to get ready for Monday now and just get the squad ready for the game against Gibraltar, which is a game of course that we have to win."
