Brennan Johnson endured a nightmare in Cardiff as Wales were knocked out of the World Cup on penalties by Bosnia and Herzegovina. Meanwhile Justin Devenny was unable to influence Italy's 2-0 win over Northern Ireland, whose World Cup dream also came to an end.
It was a night to forget for Crystal Palace players involved in the FIFA World Cup European Qualifiers with both Wales and Northern Ireland defeated.
Brennan Johnson was in action for Wales against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Cardiff and played the full 120 minutes.
Justin Devenny played a full 90 minutes for Michael O’Neill on the right of the midfield as Northern Ireland suffered a defeat to Italy in Bergamo.
The pair will now go head-to-head on Tuesday night in a friendly instead of possibly meeting in the play-off final, with Bosnia and Italy instead meeting in the final.
Extremely difficult night for Johnson
It is hard to put into words just how much of a nightmare the evening was for Brennan Johnson in Cardiff.
Clearly shot of confidence, the difference between the Palace winger and Leeds winger Dan James was stark.
Johnson struggled to take his man on throughout the match and was largely a passenger down the left-hand side for Wales.
Contrast that to James, who scored a brilliant goal and came close to scoring two others and the sheer size of the task for Oliver Glasner to get the best out of Johnson in a Palace shirt became clear.
The 24-year-old had just one shot in 120 minutes, an effort which went a long way off target and completed only 60% of his 33 passes.
He did make two notable defensive contributions, so his workrate cannot be doubted but his confidence has become a major problem for both Palace and Wales.
He took the third penalty for Wales and skied it high and side, with Neco Williams then also missing as Craig Bellamy’s side suffered penalty heartbreak to prevent them from going to the World Cup.
Devenny and Northern Ireland plucky but outclassed
It was always going to be an incredibly big ask for Northern Ireland to travel to Italy and get the job done in Bergamo.
In the end, it proved an impossible one but the effort and heart shown by Northern Ireland to keep themselves in the game for as long as they did will have pleased Michael O’Neill.
Justin Devenny epitomised that with an energetic performance on the right of the midfield in a 5-4-1 formation.
With Italy dominating possession, he touched the ball only 13 times but was everywhere on the evening, showing his relentless nature to keep going up and down on what was an otherwise difficult night for the 22-year-old.