Watching a ball curve over a wall, beyond the grasp of a goalkeeper and cement itself into the top corner of the net is always a spine-tingling experience.
But Dominik Szoboszlai's rocket of a free-kick for Liverpool against Arsenal on Sunday was quickly followed by a chill wind from a Republic of Ireland perspective.
After his exploits at Anfield, the next port of call for the Hungarian will be Dublin on Saturday when he will lead his country out against the Boys in Green as Ireland's 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying group campaign begins in earnest at Aviva Stadium.
At just 24, Szoboszlai has already been Hungary captain for almost three years, which underlines his status as arguably the best player his country has produced since the mythical Magical Magyars era spearheaded by the nation's all-time greatest, Ferenc Puskas, and he's the clear talisman of the current generation.
"Hungary at the moment feels very much like a one-man team. They're just relying on Szoboszlai almost too much and he needs a better supporting cast alongside him if this team are to make it to the World Cup," said Hungarian football journalist Bence Bocsak this week, explaining on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast just how influential the versatile all-action midfielder is for his national side.
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Szoboszlai, whose performance against Arsenal was even more impressive in light of the fact that he was lining out at right-back instead of his usual central midfield berth for a second Premier League game in a row, usually plays in one of the two advanced playmaking roles in Hungary's favoured 3-4-2-1 formation and manager Marco Rossi is unlikely to deviate from that set-up.
"Marco Rossi the national team manager, I spoke to him a couple of years ago and he would actually prefer if Szoboszlai played a bit deeper where he could see him in an Andrea Pirlo type of role, but the problem is Hungary kind of need him everywhere," Bocsak added.
"He definitely leads by example, he's a great leader in that sense. He will make speeches in the dressing room, I think people look up to him, will listen to what he has to say and on top of that, I think one game Hungary were struggling for possession and in the mixed zone afterwards he said if that happens, 'I just tell my team-mates, pass to me and I'll take care of it. Like, if you feel under pressure, just give me the ball and I'll do the rest.'"
So does that overreliance on Szoboszlai give Ireland a clue as how to try and stop Hungary at source on Saturday?
Since they bowed out of Euro 2024 at the group stage, Hungary have won two and drawn three of their ten matches, albeit in a run that featured Nations League games against big hitters like Germany and Netherlands, who they did hold to 1-1 draws in Budapest, although both away games ended in heavy defeats by a combined 9-0 margin.
They also lost 6-1 on aggregate to Turkey in March's Nations League promotion/relegation play-off and across the ten-game run since the Euros, they have scored just seven goals. Four of those have been netted by Szoboszlai - all of which were decisive. A brace led to a 2-0 Nations League win over Bosnia & Herzegovina, a late penalty earned the home draw against Germany and he scored the winning goal in June's hard-fought friendly win over Azerbaijan.
"The last year, the Hungary that I saw was very reliant on Dominik Szoboszlai and I think all the other teams sort of noticed that 'all we've got to do is take him out of the game' and then Hungary are not then necessarily able to make that much of an impact," said Bocsak.
"Even against Azerbaijan, who Hungary are expected to beat, it was a really difficult game for Hungary and a tough one.
"Szoboszlai played brilliant but it was a difficult game for him because he was being double-marked."
Bocsak continued: "That's probably the template for Ireland as well going into this game. If you take Szoboszlai out of this match - and we actually saw that in Dublin. I was there just over a year ago in a friendly before the Euros. Ireland kind of did that and they were able to beat Hungary.
"Going into the game (this Saturday), I see Ireland as the favourites, especially at home."
In the full interview on the podcast, Bocsak also discussed Szoboszlai's club and international team-mate Milos Kerkez, how Hungary are likely to approach Saturday's game tactically in light of playing Portugal three days later, and how Ferencvaros manager Robbie Keane has been instrumental in fast-tracking one of Szoboszlai's heir apparents Alex Toth. Watch or listen above.
Watch Republic of Ireland v Hungary in World Cup qualifying on Saturday from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to live radio commentary on RTÉ Radio 1
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