It is not often that Riyad Mahrez comes off the bench with quite such a broad smile on his face. But, boy, was he beaming when he joined the stampede of Algerians in tracksuit tops hurtling on to the pitch at the Prince Moulay Hassan stadium on a rousing night in the Africa Cup of Nations last-16.
When you are the captain, the elder statesman and all-round flag-bearing icon of a sporting nation, you take extra care to keep your dignity.
So as teammates splayed across the turf, lauding their goalscoring hero, the unexpected extra-time match-winner Adil Boulbina on Wednesday, Mahrez stayed on his feet, a yard from the wild scrum.
Yet the moment meant as much to him, a full 40 minutes after he had been withdrawn – tired from his efforts in Algeria’s nip-and-tuck tie against the Democratic Republic of Congo – as it did to any compatriot.
Especially because Algeria performed their 119th minute coup in Rabat, the capital of neighbouring Morocco,
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