For a playoff tie that proved so pivotal in sweeping us towards the 2002 World Cup, I have little recollection of the actual second leg encounter between Ireland and Iran in Tehran.
Granted it was all the way back in 2001, but the main memory is being allowed to watch the match in school, in our old Science Lab as one classmate reminded me this week.
Aside from a sense of tension towards the end after Iran scored on 90 minutes to pull it back to 2-1 on aggregate and the ensuing celebratory run down the school lane towards Mohill Town to chants of 'Ole, ole, ole', a lot of it is indeed a blur.
But looking back at the build-up to the game and some of the scenes from the encounter, it was a bit crazy in hindsight.
The main qualification stage was memorable of course as UEFA Group 2 saw us remain unbeaten in our 10 games, drawing home and away with the Portugal golden generation - and you may also have heard about a wee goal that some lad called Jason McAteer scored against the Dutch at Landsdowne Road.
Managers Mick McCarthy of Ireland and Miroslav Blazevic of Iran during the first leg ©INPHO/Andrew Paton
Although, Mick McCarthy's Boys in Green had finished on equal points with Portugal, goal difference meant we were not going to the 2002 World Cup directly and would have to settle for a playoff, as we had done a couple of times before and have done plenty of times since, like tonight against the Bosnians for instance.
We ended up having to go the most roundabout way towards Korea and Japan, by getting pitched against Iran in a UEFA-AFC Intercontinental Playoff.
The Iranians had played at the previous World Cup, failing to advance from the group stage but beating USA in a match with plenty of geo-political connotations (in short USA did/does not think the Persian country was/is sound and the feeling was/is mutual).
Despite the fact that our FIFA World Ranking for 2001 was No 17 and Iran were a little further back at No 29, their Serbian coach Miroslav Blažević still claimed that he would "hang myself from the crossbar on the pitch" if his team did not advance past McCarthy's.
So, he would have been delighted to see Ireland beat Iran 2-0 at Landsdowne Road in the first leg on November 10th 2001.
That set up a second leg in Tehran which would see schoolchildren around Ireland get the chance to watch telly in school for a 2pm kick off Irish time.
Ian Harte's penalty and Robbie Keane's second goal eased the tension around the tie before the return leg.
While we looked to finish the job, something more significant was happening in the Azadi Stadium stands - and it wasn't the 3-0 banner hung by the home fans.
Not since the 1979 revolution in Iran - which had a deplorable impact on women's rights in the country - had women been allowed into the stadium for a match, and the presence of Irish female fans sparked an aggressive and unwelcome response from some of the home contingent as brilliantly recounted by Nicola Byrne in The Observer after the game.
An Irish fan is disallowed entry to the game ©INPHO/Andrew Paton
As Byrne wrote: "Rebellious fans taunted some women by making obscene gestures, acts which could result in imprisonment or a lashing. An experienced Irish female photographer started sobbing as the abuse became more hysterical. 'This does not reflect very well on Iran,' admitted a local government official watching the mayhem unfold".
While those unsavoury scenes were taking place up in the stands, the Irish team on the pitch's main task was to protect that 2-0 lead in a hostile atmosphere:
Roy Keane was conspicuously absent from our starting team for the game (Shay Given, Steve Finnan, Ian Harte, Gary Breen, Steve Staunton, Jason McAteer, Mark Kinsella, Matt Holland, Kevin Kilbane, David Connolly, Robbie Keane) through injury with Kinsella replacing him in the physical sense and Staunton inheriting the captain's armband.
McCarthy's men held out until the final minute when defender Yahya Golmohammadi headed in a free-kick, but fortunately for us it was a little too late from the Iranians who needed another goal to push the tie towards extra-time, sparking scenes of jubilation on the Irish bench (as you can see in the video above), away fans and in a little school in Leitrim.
Let's keep the finger's crossed for something similar tonight at the Aviva Stadium when Bosnia come to town.
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