From a hostile shower of beery dregs and plastic cups to that familiar nation-sweeping wave of optimism and hope. It's taken a little longer this time around, but Gareth Southgate and his England have done it again, got us all talking of those years of hurt, got us dreaming once more.
Less than a fortnight ago, they were 90 seconds and a Jude Bellingham bicycle-kick away from villainy. Now they stand 90 minutes from glory for all time.
And by Monday morning, what will they be, this manager and his side? Legends to match Sir Alf Ramsey and his heroes of 1966 as the only men's team to deliver major silverware to a proud, but underachieving, footballing nation? Or the nearly men, the loveable group that went close once, twice, three times in four tournaments, but never quite got over the line?
To couch their legacy in such binary terms might seem harsh, but so much has Southgate's England achieved already that only victory over Spain in Berlin on Sunday can change it now.
They were 90 seconds from villainy, now stand 90 minutes from glory
Lose at the Olympiastadion, and they will still have gone further than any previous England men's side at a tournament overseas, still have played in twice as many major finals as all of their predecessors put together. Southgate, below, will still be the man who fixed a broken bond between supporters and team, who shattered the shootout hoodoo, who won as many knockout matches as every previous incumbent combined. Win, though, and none of those metrics will any longer be required. Ultimate success speaks for itself.
How England have made it here is still taking a little figuring out. They played poorly in most of the group stage, inhibited, as Southgate later admitted, by fear, and finished top of their pool despite winning one game out of three and scoring only twice. They were on the brink against Slovakia and the Swiss, reliant on moments of salvation from Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Kane, as well as a frankly unsettling ruthlessness from 12 yards.
Keep coming through these scrapes, though, and it can only be coincidence for so long. Southgate has put spirit, togetherness and resilience at the heart of his philosophy since reluctantly taking the job eight years ago. The group in Germany is a happy mix: of veterans there from the start, in Russia in 2018, such as Kane, Jordan Pickford and John Stones; of young superstars, Saka, Bellingham, Declan Rice and Phil Foden picked up along the way; and of tournament rookies, Marc Guéhi, Kobbie Mainoo and Ollie Watkins, suddenly the man of the hour.
Southgate has found ways to coax the best from a vibrant, gifted generation (just don't call it "golden"). If that knack seemed to have gone missing for much of this summer, then it returned for Wednesday night's superb semi-final victory over the Dutch.
It has sometimes not been thrilling — though more often than Southgate is given credit for, it has — and criticism over the past month has been fierce. At times, it has veered into the personal and Southgate has shown signs of wear and tear. But though they are held now to higher expectations, the Three Lions remain alive and just one win from meeting the loftiest of them all.
Spain are a wonderful team, the tournament's best, and this England have stumbled when this close before, beaten finalists at Wembley against Italy three years ago. There is a theory that to win a final you have to lose one first. After eight years, four tournaments and so many great nights, in what could be the final game of Southgate's tenure, there is just one obstacle left to overcome.
