Mark McGuinness was left to reflect on a pride-filled but difficult debut for the Republic of Ireland as a tough night in Wembley ended in a 5-0 defeat.
England pushed home their superiority in the second half under the arch but it had been a proper contest before the break.
The Boys in Green worked their socks off in the first 45 minutes and could - and even should - have had at least one penalty as Marc Guehi dragged Evan Ferguson to the deck as both chased after a ball over the top.
But once the damn sprung a leak, after Liam Scales fouled Jude Bellingham to concede a penalty, the flow of England goals was unstoppable.
🏴 5-0 🇮🇪
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'Obviously it hurts, 5-0 against England'
A debut to remember for Mark McGuinness, even if those memories won't be altogether happy!
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Ireland, playing now with 10 men, couldn't handle their hosts, with those in green hoping to be put out of their misery as the half wore on.
For McGuinness, it was a case of mixed emotions.
"It's a difficult one for me," he told RTÉ Sport after the game. "I was super-proud to make my debut but obviously it hurts. 5-0 against England, regardless of what happened during the game, it's tough.
"It was huge for me, I've been waiting for this for a while. I've loved playing underage football for Ireland and this was the next step for me and I'm really proud.
"I have my family here watching today. The gaffer let me know a couple of days before, gave me time to let it sink in and get ready for the game.
"It's a little disappointing but still a proud moment for me."
Even the most optimistic fan was realistically hoping for a good performance - if not a result - before kick-off, with 59 places separating the sides in the FIFA world rankings.
England had beaten Ireland 2-0 in Dublin in September and, although the Boys in Green beat Finland on Thursday, they travelled in hope rather than expectation.
"They're a top side, well ranked in the world, but these are the sort of games we need to compare ourselves," McGuinness continued.
"These are the games we want to be playing in. We're going to have to pick up points against these teams going forward.
"So we learn from it, we take the positives - there were some good positives in the first half - we take them, learn from them, meet up in March and work on them."
For Andrew Moran, who won his second cap in green when replacing Josh Cullen with 15 minutes to go, there was much to take from the first half performance.
But the Stoke City midfielder, who made his competitive debut having appeared against New Zealand in a friendly last year, admitted that it was a tough cauldron to step into, with the game over as a contest by the time he was introduced.
"I just tried to do my best when I came on but it was an uphill task by that stage," he said.
"Hopefully I showed what I can do. The state of the game, you're just trying to tick us over until the end and try to get the fight back in.
"You're trying to be a little spark but it was a bit frantic. Being down to 10 men, you're trying to cover big spaces against such a good team - it's tough.
"Watching on you could see how much we were frustrating them (in the first half). They didn't really have too many chances, as far as I can remember.
"The lads were fighting unbelievably. I was proud watching it and then the red card and peno kills us. We can take so many positives from the first half.
"The way the lads fought really made it hard for a top side like England."
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