From a Scotland perspective, there was very little that went to plan in the crushing defeat to Greece that consigned them to relegation to League B of the Nations League.
For Kenny McLean, though, the vision of how he thought the evening might go clashed all the harder with the reality.
The midfielder – forever to be remembered by the Tartan Army as the hero of Oslo – entered the Scotland roll of honour by picking up his 50th cap at Hampden against the Greeks, but it turned into a night to forget for the Norwich City man and his teammates as they were routed by the rampant visitors.
It was hard not to feel sorry for McLean in the aftermath of the that sobering defeat as he spoke in the bowels of Hampden, given how patient and how dedicated he has been in service of his country, but he offered no excuses for how his and Scotland’s big night had fallen flat.
“Obviously it's a moment that I've been looking at for the last few games now,” McLean said.
“It is obviously a massive privilege and an honour to play every time I do.
“To reach 50 tonight is obviously bittersweet. Further down the line I will look back and really reflect on my international career. But to get to 50 is a really proud moment for me and my family.
“It's bittersweet, obviously it's a massive achievement for myself and it's no fluke getting to 50. I think I've worked hard to get there.
“Thankfully the manager has put a lot of faith in me and gave me a lot of those caps. He’s always relied on me and I've always tried to show up as much as I can and do as much as I can for the team and for the squad.
“As I say, it's a very proud moment. It is obviously pretty special, and I've worked hard to get here.”
Scotland had worked hard to give themselves a favourable chance of remaining at the elite level of the Nations League with their win in Piraeus on Thursday night, but it all came crashing down in spectacular fashion in Mount Florida, and McLean can understand why the Tartan Army had resorted to booing the efforts of their team long before the end.
“Listen, if you put a performance in like that, then you need to take the criticism that comes with it,” he said.
“We're not going to shy away from the performance. We know it wasn't good enough, so fans are going to voice their opinions. That's how it is. “We done so much to get here. They'll be frustrated and disappointed the way we are. Obviously, it's not nice to hear, but we get their frustration, and we get their anger. It's one we need to take because it is a really disappointing night.
“Disappointment is the biggest word that we can use for this because obviously before the game we were in a decent enough position. We knew the qualities that they had, especially after the second half on Thursday.
“But I think we gave them a lot of what they got. They obviously scored three goals, but I think a lot of it was down to us and the way we went about it.
“That was the most disappointing thing because I think, yes, it was good finishes and there was some good play, I'm sure that's the way they look at it, but it's just disappointing that we seem to feel that we gave them the goals.”
McLean hopes that the bruised and battered Scots can rebuild some of their shattered confidence in the summer friendlies against Iceland and Liechtenstein before steeling themselves to put on a better showing against the Greeks when the teams face off again in World Cup qualifying.
“We've had a look at them,” he said.
“We know their qualities. We never did underestimate them, but we know now the quality they've got. We know what's coming here.
“I'm sure they'll come with a lot of confidence in those games, but it's up to us to show that we're a better team than we showed tonight.”
