These are the moments you wait for as a supporter. Yes, it was a 2-1 victory scraped together against a Slovakia team who had run out of steam half an hour earlier. Yes the 94 minutes prior were riddled with moments that went from frustrating to infuriating. But to come out and win and to win like that; suddenly – and for a short moment – anything feels possible.
The turnaround inside the Arena AufSchalke is challenging to describe. The sheer shift in scale was astronomical. There had been whistles and jeers and a sense of a bubbling up, at 1-0 down and with seconds to go. The sense that this could be Iceland on steroids, vituperation in excelsis, was building. But then, instead, a roar; a roar that was surprise as much as relief and delight.
