The following day came as quickly as it had passed, with the players arriving ahead of schedule for some breakfast.
An hour later, they found the bus already idling outside the complex with the liaison standing beside it.
In her hand was a clipboard, and as the players approached, she started to account for them.
"Passports out when you get on," she said to each player as they came through.
"I need to see them before you sit down, not at the gate."
Most of the squad complied without comment, producing passports from jacket pockets and bag fronts with varying degrees of organisation.
Seriki had his in a small leather holder.
McClean's looked like it had been through a washing machine at some point in its life, but was technically valid, while Reyes, as always, produced his with the particular flourish of a man presenting credentials.
"We are flying first class, right?" he asked the liaison right as he took a single step onto the stairs of the bus.
