When Cristiano Ronaldo whipped that vicious, nigh-on unstoppable free kick beyond David De Gea on Friday night, Spain howled and neutrals around the world rejoiced.
The game had finished in a draw but football had been the winner the danger exists, too, that this is effectively a free hit for an Iran side that can now afford to lose a game. Their mini-cup final always looked likely to be against Portugal, Queiroz’s homeland and the country once managed by him.
He will fancy his chances of masterminding a result against them; in the meantime perhaps Serdar Azmoun, the Rubin Kazan forward and “Iranian Messi” who will be lining up in the stadium where he plays his club football, and free-scoring AZ winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh can cut loose and express themselves with the pressure slightly relieved.