The Republic of Ireland friendly against Oman last August was widely remembered as Robbie Keane's final game in green before hanging up his international boots. For Harry Arter, it was a very different night.
A 4-0 win over Ireland's friendliest of friendly rivals including a goal for Keane himself sent the crowd home happy. For Arter, the mood was different to those around him. He was on the brink of a mental breakdown.
Speaking to the Sunday World, the Bournemouth midfielder revealed the death of his grandfather, coupled with the stillbirth death of his own daughter months earlier, nearly pushed him over the edge.
I will never forget the way I felt on the pitch in that Oman game last August.
I did not sleep one wink the night before. I was just sat in my room, my head was racing. I didn't know how to deal with everything that was coming at me. The concern for me at the time was that I might feel like I did in those few weeks for the rest of my life and that was frightening.
Arter's grandfather had died just before the Oman game, and was to be buried in the days after the match in Dublin. Unlike the death of his daughter Renee, Arter chose not to tell his teammates about his grandfather's passing.
My life had seemed perfect up to this point, I didn't have anyone in my family who had passed away and I was living the dream as a Premier League footballer. Suddenly, everything was closing in on me.
What I didn't know was if whether the way I was feeling was normal and I didn't want to pull out of the squad in case this is how I feel forever.
The 27-year-old admitted he lost his passion for the game around that time. He was sent off the week before for Bournemouth in a Premier League match against West Ham, and admitted everything came to a head after the match in Dublin.
I remember going up to the players lounge after the Oman game and my dad was there and I just broke down in front of him.
We were grieving as a family and it was all too much. I was weighed down by so many aspects of my life and couldn't cope with it.
Arter goes into the new season in a better frame of mind, and revealed his brother-in-law Scott Parker played a crucial role in that. Compared to this time last year, Harry Arter will go into the international break as one of the crucial cogs in the Irish midfield, and as a key in Bournemouth's third season in the Premier League.
Despite being in a better state of mind, he still continues to talk passionately about what was a dark time in his life.
You can read the full and fascinating interview with Harry Arter in today's Sunday World.
