After what seemed like an epoch of getting beaten by all and sundry, the boys from OWC (that's our wee country to the non-initiated) only went and gone and done the English. Like.

The country went clean mad and deservedly so.

Wins against the likes of Spain and giant killing performances against some of Europe's best followed. It was all rather good fun.

Then we went to Latvia and Riga Mortis set in.

Even worse, off we trooped to some rock in the arctic circle and managed to lose again. The Euro-dream was over.

Recriminations followed. The manager got a verbal kicking from amateur pundits on radio phone-ins. The public wanted to know how we had sunk so far so fast .. etc etc

Are these people wise enough? Could they not be glad and proud of those unforgettable moments of joys which the team brought to them against the likes of England, Spain et al?

Surely I could not have been the only one who had reasonable fears that Northern Ireland's bubble would burst sooner or later?

'We're not Brazil we're Northern Ireland' used to be our self deprecating anthem. The problem was that some people started to believe that we actually were Brazil ....

However, I give you a cure for the football imposed depression which may well be hanging over you at the moment.

Check out this wonderful video .. shed a tear ... and then have a laugh.

Forget the European Championships. They're out of our grasp. But they'll never take this moment of sheer, unadulterated exhilaration away from us!