In the hubbub outside Hampden before the game, a rather suspiciously peely-wally looking young lad in a full Portugal strip was giving his dad his prediction for the big match.
“Three-nil,” he stated assertively in an accent that was definitely more Lothian than Lisbon. “Ronaldo hat-trick. Scotland are rubbish.”
With the greatest of respect to Steve Clarke and his men, there was no doubt who the star of the show was here, with the fact the home end had sold out no doubt owing as much to Scots coming along for a glimpse of the great man as it did any great desire to watch Scotland.
The challenge for the home side was to try to live with the frankly ridiculous array of stars in the Portuguese ranks, never mind upstage them.
There was a cacophony of boos mind you when Ronaldo first took possession of the ball, and cheers when Kenny McLean rattled into a tackle on the former Real Madrid megastar.
After a bright start from the Scots though where they really should have taken the lead through a Scott McTominay header, just as they had in the reverse fixture between the sides, the visitors settled into a slick passing rhythm that left their opponents in the home ranks looking rather dizzied, never mind starstruck.
And the worrying thing was that Ronaldo himself didn’t quite look at it. Surely, at some point, he would spring to life?
There was of course more than a hint of menace any time the ball was near him, with a mix of excitement and apprehension raising the volume around Hampden, but when he actually got on the ball, it all added up to not very much at all.
His first shot on target only took a few minutes to arrive, but Craig Gordon could have thrown his cap on it. And when the Portuguese tried to tee him up at the back stick on a few occasions – a problem area for Scotland of late – Anthony Ralston and Ryan Christie both defended diligently.
It wasn’t long before the first strop from Ronaldo arrived either, animatedly waving his arms in disgust at referee Lawrence Visser for refusing to penalise Che Adams for a handball, much to the delight of the Scotland supporters.
If that tickled them, then a mix-up between Ronaldo and Nuno Mendes as they stood over a free kick provoked more mirth, with the pair trying to kick the ball simultaneously and succeeding only in presenting it to a dark blue jersey.
It was the sort of thing you might be more accustomed to seeing at Cowdenbeath rather than from Cristiano, and it inspired one Scotland fan to shout down to a man widely considered as one of the greatest to ever play the game - and a five-time Ballon D’Or winner - that he was, in actual fact, a ‘balloon’.
It was a bold statement, and rather early in the evening to be making it, but he did seem to fit that description on a couple of further occasions before the break, blazing over from a Vitinha lay off and then allowing a pass to slip under his boot.
Just after the interval too, there was yet more evidence that the five-time Champions League winner was flesh and bone like the rest of us, as he headed a golden opportunity over the bar after some careless play from Andy Robertson.
The truth is though, that for all the star quality of Ronaldo, the real strength of this Portuguese side lies in both the quality right throughout their side on the ball, and their relentless work rate when they lose it.
Whenever Scotland nicked it back, they just couldn’t get out, with light blue jerseys swarming around whichever of the home players was unfortunate enough to find the ball land at his feet.
The hosts were so deep that there was barely anything ahead of the ball, and the Portuguese simply strangled and suffocated the Scots until they coughed up the ball. Often, in the most precarious of areas.
Somehow, Scotland hung in there. Roberto Martinez turned to his bench and threw on Bernardo Silva and Rafael Leao, which didn’t quite seem fair, but Leao’s first contribution was to spark another strop from his captain, Ronaldo going tonto when he failed to tuck in at the back post as he left a cross.
And while it remained goalless, Scotland still retained a puncher’s chance. McTominay had a couple of near misses as he sliced at an Adams knockdown, and then just couldn’t get on the end of Ralston’s cross after a lung-buster up the right from the full back.
Ronaldo had one last opportunity to put his kilted critics' gas at a peep late on, shimmying past a couple of desperate challenges in the area before his stinging shot was diverted just wide, before Gordon pulled off a brilliant save from Bruno Fernandes to show there was more than one golden oldie on show at Hampden.
One eejit then tried to run the length of Hampden to get a selfie with Ronaldo, giving the Scotland fans one last reason to cheer as he was rugby tackled to the ground expertly by one of Rocksteady’s finest.
It was Scotland who proved rock steady on the night overall, becoming one of the rare international outfits to deny Ronaldo and co over 90 minutes.
The people had come for a show, and never one to disappoint, Ronaldo duly obliged. It was one last show of petulance, mind, as he raged at the ref's refusal to allow Portugal to take a last-gasp corner.
It rather summed up his night, much to Scotland's relief.
