As George Hamilton put it so succinctly in the heat of the moment, “Robbie Brady brings us all to our feet in Lille”. It’s hard to believe that that famous goal – and celebration – to beat Italy at the European Championships is already a decade old.

The roof on the Stade Pierre-Mauroy was closed that night, spiking the decibel levels as Ireland fans celebrated their ticket to a last-16 clash with Euro 2016 hosts France, but also encasing the potent stench of stale beer in the air.

The stadium was already a sweat box before smuggled-in plastic pint glasses and cans took flight left, right and centre from giddy owners, the tepid remnants of said containers raining down on their fellow green-clad supporters (and some reporters’ laptops) who didn’t care a jot amid the euphoria of a moment frozen in time.

Troy Parrott was a young teen, watching that game at home in Dublin and spoke recently about how it had allowed him to dream of creating similar scenes of chaos and joy as a Republic of Ireland international. Well, safe to say he has ticked that box – and then some. Fittingly, Brady just happens to be one of his closest friends in the Ireland set-up.

On Tuesday night, Parrott will be at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy himself, as Real Betis embark on just their second Champions League campaign, with an opening game against Lille in the house that Brady made his own.

At this stage, Parrott has only dipped a toe in La Liga waters and yet – at club level at least – he may never top his Galactico-slaying antics of Friday night, coming off the bench to score that late winner against Real Madrid. But the big wheel keeps on churning and it’s already parked with Europe now taking centre stage this week.

“I’m very happy for Parrott,” said Betis manager Manuel Pellegrini. “He made a mistake against Levante, but [on Friday] he had the instinct to score that goal. It’s going to give him a lot of confidence. It was a goal of great effort and power.”

While Parrott’s trajectory soars, Evan Ferguson waits patiently for the chance to get his career back on track after a series of injury setbacks that sabotaged his loan spell at Roma last season. He had ankle surgery in March, but is on the road to recovery.

Back at Brighton, it remains to be seen how much he will play under Fabian Hurzeler, the manager who was happy to send him to Italy in the first place. But the German delivered a positive update going into the weekend, even if Ireland’s upcoming Nations League games against Kosovo, Israel and Austria will come too soon.

“He’s getting closer,” said Hurzeler. “I can’t give a clear timescale for when he will be back. Everyone knows what Evan is capable of doing. He proved it a few years ago here at Brighton. I think he was one of the best strikers in the Premier League, so hopefully he can get back on track. Hopefully he gets his mind in the right position.”

But that won’t come in the Europa Conference League, not yet anyway. Ferguson was one of five Brighton players left out of the squad submitted to Uefa for the league phase, although three more players can be added if they reach the knockouts.

Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson’s more immediate concern rests on the fitness of his captain Nathan Collins, ahead of the squad announcement on September 17th for the marathon four-game international window.

Collins lasted just 16 minutes of Brentford’s 1-1 draw with Sunderland on Saturday, forced off with an injury that manager Keith Andrews is still waiting to assess before putting any timeframe on the centre-back’s return.

“It’s a calf strain,” said Andrews. “I don’t know the extent. Obviously, it’s unfortunate that the skipper had to come off.”

Mikey Johnston’s fitness is also a worry, again. Having fractured his ankle in February, he made his competitive return off the bench in West Brom’s League Cup win at Rotherham last month but now needs to see a specialist.

“Everyone wants answers, but it’s just taking a little bit of time,” said West Brom manager James Morrison. “He’s with the consultant, trying to get to the bottom of it. He had a little bit of a flare up and we’ll continue to be patient.”

Liam Scales enjoyed better fortunes over the weekend, scoring Celtic’s first goal in their 2-1 win away to St Mirren that maintains their 100 per cent league record after five games and stretches the lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership to five points.

But while goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu was an unused sub in Bolton Wanderers’ defeat at Millwall, the nature of the 4-0 drubbing should accelerate his claims for a start sooner rather than later having only joined from Southampton just over a week ago.