Pico Lopes was still struggling to take in the magnitude of helping Cape Verde qualify for their first World Cup as he began a dash back to Dublin to be present for the birth of his first child.
The West African archipelago found themselves drawn in Group D of the African qualifiers, with Cameroon clear favourites to come out on top in a group which also included Libya, Angola, Mauritius and Eswatini.
Lopes and his team-mates knew that beating an Eswatini side yet to taste victory in qualifying or merely matching Cameroon's result against Angola would assure them of their place in North America next summer.
The less-than-Indomitable Lions were held to a scoreless draw in Yaounde, while Cape Verde's 3-0 victory over the nation formerly known as Swaziland sparked wild celebrations in Praia.
The feat saw Cape Verde become the second-least populous country to ever make it to the World Cup finals, just missing out on a record held by Iceland.
"I can't really put it into words at the moment," Lopes admitted as he prepared to make the 4500km trip home.
"It's such a surreal feeling. The overwhelming relief at the end of the game, the realisation that we did it, we're going to go to the World Cup.
"I'm overjoyed at the moment and it's an amazing feeling."
Crumlin native Lopes played his part in Dailon Rocha Livramento's opener in the 48th minute against Eswatini, with Willy Semedo adding a second six minutes later, and veteran Stopira vindicated his decision to come out of retirement with a goal in stoppage time.
Despite the 0-0 scoreline at the interval, confidence among the Blue Sharks never wavered.
"There were moments of frustration and they were only 'moments' of frustration in the first half, maybe with them taking time, but there was nothing else we could do," the Shamrock Rovers defender said.
"We couldn't control what the team did or the referee did.
"We had to concentrate on our job, which I thought we did really well.
"We created a few opportunities in the first half and we knew that if we continued to play the way we have that in the second half, more chances would come and, thankfully, we took them.
Lopes qualifies for Cape Verde through his father Carlos, and was famously recruited via a message on LinkedIn from former national team boss Rui Aguas, having ignored an earlier approach due to not speaking Portuguese.
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Carlos and Lopes' father-in-law Martin were both on hand to watch the 33-year-old make history, with Lopes adding: "They both made the trip. It's a long trip, as Martin found out!
"To have them there was really special for me. It gave me extra motivation to try and get the job done and hopefully to see us through for the World Cup and we did that.
"I hope he's [Carlos] very proud. He's the reason that I'm playing for the Cape Verde national team, and to represent him and represent my family at the biggest stage in football is just amazing.
"I can't put it into words. I know some people would say a boy from Cumlin, playing in the League of Ireland his whole career, playing international football when I was 28, playing at a World Cup... I'm 33 now, I'll be 34 during it.
"It's been incredible. I'm probably the luckiest person in the world."
There's due to be celebrations on two fronts in the Lopes home in the coming days, with the player's wife Leah expecting the couple's first child, as he revealed: "The funny thing about this week is that football has been the last thing on my mind.
"I really mean that. Me and my wife are expecting our first child. It could be any time now!
"I enjoyed the celebrations after the game but I'm really looking forward to getting home and hopefully being there for the birth of our child."
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