Like the good former player he is, Joe Jordan came bearing gifts of hope for Manchester United. Yes, they can win the Premiership. Yes, they can overturn Milan's 1-0 advantage in the Champions' League. And yes, he is applying to become a United Nations goodwill ambassador.
Actually, the last sentence is a fib, but he might as well be such was his generosity of spirit, even to the extent of protecting the player who had ushered Jordan's Portsmouth side nearer to the wrong end of the Premiership. He could have damned Wayne Rooney with extravagant praise, yet he was anxious to avoid piling even more expectation on 19-year-old shoulders.
To the question about what Rooney might do to Milan in San Siro, he backed away. "To answer that would put pressure on him right away," he replied. "There are other players who are young, too, who could be match winners. Like Cristiano Ronaldo."
You could see Jordan, a teenage striker who was highly rated himself in his playing days, trying to walk a fine line, which was made razor-blade thin because Rooney had played his most complete game in a United shirt, brandishing the field marshal's baton as well as sniping successfully from the front line.
His first goal was a meeting of timing and power, a snap half-volley that shot past Konstas Chalkias in the Portsmouth goal before he could move. The second was simply a masterpiece of execution in circumstances when heads, particularly young ones, are designed to burn hot.'