A late Krzysztof Piatek penalty took the shine off another good Scotland performance, as a first Scots goal from Arsenal and former Celtic star Kieran Tierney was cancelled out in a 1-1 friendly draw with Poland.
Somewhere in another universe, Glasgow's Hampden Park would have been a cauldron of fever-pitch anticipation for 90 minutes as Scotland looked to go one game away from the World Cup.
A fierce opponent in Ukraine should have been waiting but Russia have brought war to their land and thoughts have had to turn as far away from football as you could imagine.