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Lewis Ferguson displayed all the warrior-like characteristics which have made him Bologna's captain and a darling of the Serie A club's fans as he became the first Scot in 30 years to lift the Coppa Italia.
Having recovered from injury to play in Wednesday's showpiece against AC Milan, Ferguson left the field to receive treatment for a bloodied nose, having copped a boot in the face from Rafael Leao as he slid in to challenge the Portuguese attacker.
Returning to the fray with his nostrils plugged and face ballooning, Ferguson helped pilot Bologna to glory - the 1-0 triumph their first major trophy in 51 years.
"I'm a bit swollen in my face, I had blood all over my shirt but it was such an incredible night," the 25-year-old told BBC Scotland.
"There was a swimming pool of champagne. We had a really nice party, missed out on a bit of sleep.
"We are part of history now."
With Steve Clarke announcing his Scotland squad for June friendlies against Iceland and Liechtenstein on Monday, can the former Hamilton Academical and Aberdeen midfielder become an integral part of the starting line-up?
Ferguson has starred since moving to Italy in 2022, earning the club captaincy a year later, and being named Serie A midfielder of the season for 2023-24.
He has also endured hardship.
Leaving aside the challenges of living and playing overseas, Ferguson missed over 200 days of football after injuring knee ligaments in April 2024, and a hamstring problem threatened to rule him out of Wednesday's final.
"All those difficult times throughout the last year dealing with the injury, all that hard work was worth it when I lifted the trophy," he said.
"I'd never played outside of Scotland before so to move to a new country and have the people here welcome you, you want to pay them back with nights like Wednesday.
"To see them turn out in their numbers, we walked out on the pitch before the game just to have a little look around and the Bologna end was already full, they were already singing, the flags were everywhere. It gave me goosebumps.
"To see their faces at the end when the referee blew the final whistle was amazing.
"So many people in tears, people jumping about celebrating, something they've not seen in such a long time. The relationship between the players and fans is incredible."
To date, the first Scot since Graeme Souness to claim the Coppa Italia has just 14 caps, the bulk of them off the bench.
Those injured ligaments kept Ferguson out of Euro 2024 and while he returned to the starting line-up for Scotland's 1-0 Nations League play-off win over Greece in March, he was among the substitutes for the second leg, a 3-0 defeat.
Aston Villa talisman John McGinn and Kenny McLean of Norwich City have long been Clarke favourites, while fellow Serie A Caledonians Billy Gilmour and Scott McTominay, whose league leading Napoli hope to clinch the Scudetto next weekend, are also Scotland regulars.
Reflecting on Scottish success in Italy, Ferguson said: "Josh Doig has just won Serie B to come back into the league with Sassuolo. Che Adams has had a really good season and scored important goals for Torino.
"I've spoken to Scottie and Billy over the last couple of days, with them congratulating me. For them to win the Scudetto would be something special for them, and something special for Scotland."
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