The final twist is theatrical. Having prodded and coaxed his team to the verge of World Cup qualification, Roy Keane returned to Manchester yesterday for treatment on a knee injury, thus leaving his colleagues with the task of travelling to Tehran to finish a difficult job. The sense of drama couldn't be ratcheted any higher.
On Saturday night, in the wake of a two-nil victory which was at the time deemed sufficient unto the day, there had been optimism about a full playing party leaving Dublin airport this morning. Yesterday, as the casualties were counted, the picture changed dramatically. Veterans Niall Quinn and Steve Staunton will travel, but both are rated very doubtful to play. Roy Keane has withdrawn.
"His knee seems to have stiffened up overnight" said Irish manager Mick McCarthy. "In the circumstances it would have been too much to ask him to play two games in five days."
Keane had missed the last five games for his club, Manchester United, with the same injury and there had been some surprise that his employers permitted him to travel to Dublin to play on Saturday.
His efforts in a robust game have been costly and there was speculation last night that the player will now require an operation.
With Keane's departure the odds on Irish success in Tehran must be adjusted accordingly. Taking into account the absences also of Steven Carr and Damien Duff, the team travel to their most important game in several years without five of their first-choice stars.
Saturday's first-leg encounter in Lansdowne Road gives the Irish a two-nil advantage but should they concede an early goal in the 120,000-capacity Azadi stadium on Thursday, it will be a very long evening indeed. The Irish team had a day of rest yesterday at the airport hotel before this morning's departure on a six-and-a-half hour journey to Tehran.
There they will find a country passionate about its football and a team desperate to repeat play-off success achieved in 1997 when they scored two late goals in Melbourne to knock Australia out of the competition and qualify for the World Cup finals for the first time in 20 years. The Azadi Stadium was filled to capacity for the team's homecoming the following week and 3,000 women even managed to occupy a corner of the stadium.
With the Celtic Tiger vanishing in Ireland and with liberalisation slowed in Iran, Thursday's match therefore will dictate much about how each nation feels about itself in 2002.
Only a game?