Before the Euro 2024 Final, Gareth Southgate had acknowledged that the result would define him "in the eyes of others"; win and achieve immortality; lose and face being remembered as a 'nearly man'.
Defeat by Spain proved to Southgate's last stand with England and there will inevitably be suggestions that he failed.
The Southgate-truthers can say he taught England to navigate their way through knockout games, but could not lead them over the line when it really mattered.
His critics will feel vindicated in suggesting that the manager held back this vibrant and talented squad which, after all, was considered stronger than Spain's before the tournament.
Southgate's many achievements, including leading England's men further than ever before on foreign soil and to twice as many major finals as every one of his predecessors combined, will be dismissed as secondary because they had to win, but could not.
Southgate knows this, which is why he admitted before a ball was kicked that Euro 2024 was effectively win or bust for him.
The manner of Sunday's defeat, England sitting back at 1-1 and conceding against arguably the first elite team they faced in Germany, will only embolden the sceptics.
In reality, though, if England had won, the same doubters would have dug in and accused them of not winning well enough or winning in spite of their head coach.
There is no pleasing some people; Southgate knows this, too.
Winning the Euros, though, would have assured his legacy, cemented Southgate's place alongside Sir Alf Ramsey as England's greatest-ever coach, doubters be damned.
If England get over the line under a successor, Southgate will be viewed as the man who laid the foundations
As it is, in the hollowness of another near miss, the picture feels destined to remain opaque, the debate certain to rage on — not least because England's tournament was so confounding.
The need for a definitive answer as to whether Southgate was a transformational leader or a limited coach in charge of a generational squad is understandable.
Certainty is neat and easy, and if England had won in Berlin, we would surely have had it. It is unfair, though, to reduce eight years' work to a single game.
After Southgate stepped down on Tuesday, we should not lose sight of how far England have come, how completely the 53-year-old has changed everything about the national team.
Some of the younger fans who flooded into Berlin — draping its squares and bars and riverbanks in a sea of St George's crosses, outnumbering the Spanish by at least three to one — may not realise how good they really have it.
Southgate inherited a wreck, a nation at one of its lowest ebbs, which had tasted bitter underachievement at 20 consecutive tournaments since 1966, under 11 different coaches.
Two finals in three years represents unprecedented riches for supporters.
England lost the first on penalties and the second to Mikel Oyarzabal's 86th-minute winner which was fractionally onside. These are the margins between immortality and a lifetime of wondering 'what if?'
Southgate believed England needed to win the Euros to "really feel the respect of the rest of the football world", but there is no doubt that they are now regarded as one of the leading tournament teams; not winners yet, but steely, adaptable, never out of a game.
His legacy may not be appreciated until long after he is gone, in charge at Manchester United, perhaps, or else secluded in the Yorkshire countryside.
If England eventually get over the line under his successor, Southgate will surely be viewed as the manager who laid the foundations, transforming the culture and mentality of the team and raising the bar dramatically.
And if there is a return to the dark days — and it is easy to imagine the carefully-tended relationships with supporters and the media fracturing under a more outspoken coach — then Southgate's work will surely be placed in the proper perspective it deserves.
Gareth's record
Games: 102
Won: 62
Drawn: 23
Lost: 17
There is no Southgate successor, by the way, whose style of play or rhetoric will unite the country, not in this polarised era of social media, when every fan has a voice — though that is not to say that a more tactically-astute coach could not improve on his work.
In all probability, it may take years before we can fully appreciate what Southgate has done for England, and the decency and humility with which he has done it.
There is, of course, one scenario which could age Southgate's tenure badly; imagine for a moment if England are crowned world champions under his successor, playing a swashbuckling brand of attacking football, their glittering array of forwards finally unleashed to fulfil their true potential.
That feels unlikely, though. It is not the way most nations, perhaps Spain aside, win major tournaments, as Southgate knew — even if he could not execute his plan.
