“Everton have history and heritage,” he said. They are Premier League perennials. They look like they will stay there and they have a passionate fanbase who fill a superb 50,000-plus stadium.

“You are not having to spend money on an upgrade of that stadium. I have a lot of respect for the finance people at the club. Unlike some of the chaos of Moshiri and what he left behind, you can lift up the carpet now at Everton and nothing unpleasant will come out.

“To paraphrase a former Prime Minister, you have got an ‘over ready’ football club coming on to the market. If you are an owner who wants to accelerate things at a football club, you have a starting point for that.

“And my start point for potential buyers would be the States.”

There is no doubt, however, that Houston-based TFG’s relationship with those back at base on Merseyside hinted at the dysfunctional.

The lack of a close relationship with manager Moyes was again emphasised when he admitted he only heard about Everton‘s potential sale at the same time as the wider public – only adding to the sense of disconnect between TFG and the club, compared to how they work at Roma.

Speaking at his press conference before Sunday’s match away at Hull, Moyes said: “I’m disappointed that Evertonians have to go through another period of ‘who are our owners?’

“I truly believed with new ownership we were in it completely. My ambition coming back was trying to get Everton back to the levels they have been in the past, and that is challenging for Europe more often.

“It has been a difficult summer for us. I only found out this morning. Maybe, I am a little bit surprised, but maybe I shouldn’t be that surprised.”

The last time Cacace boxed in the arena was in 2023, out-pointing Damian Wrzesinski over 12 rounds on the undercard of Luis Alberto Lopez’s defeat of Michael Conlan in an IBF featherweight title defence.

Sandwiched between those two bouts was a victory for Ball over Ludumo Lamati, a fight that ended in worrying scenes with the South African suffering a stroke in the ring when stoppped in the final round, but has since made a full recovery.

The Liverpudlian “didn’t even know that” he and Cacace shared that undercard but is more than happy to return to Belfast for this opportunity.

Since that night, the 29-year-old has gone on to draw in a first world title attempt against Rey Vargas before getting over the line in his next outing against Raymond Ford.

Three successful defences would follow, but in February of this year, it all unravelled in the final round against Brandon Figueroa when he was dropped twice and then stopped, suffering his first career loss in his 25th professional bout.

“It was a good fight, back and forth for 12 rounds and he caught me with a good shot in the last round,” Ball reflected.

“He threw an overhand left counter as I was throwing, so that’s what happened. It’s boxing, it’s part of the game.”

Larkin was a constant threat and linked up well in a fluid front three with the reliable Emily Murphy and Kyra Carusa, who were also on target in the big win, including two goals for the latter.

Finn’s goal was her first for her country and she showed her tenacity in midfield alongside Megan Connolly in her first start under Ward.

Stapleton came into the back three alongside Anna Patten and Caitlin Hayes and had little defending to do, but did well with her looping header over Angelina Portnova for a late eighth goal in injury-time.

There was also a debut goal for substitute Shanade Hopcroft, who Ward said is a “great addition” to the squad with the Crystal Palace midfielder boosting their midfield options.

Ward had spoken in the build-up to the game about avoiding complacency and the Irish were professional in their ruthless display, with those introduced in the second half keeping the tempo up as they were keen to stake a claim for further involvement on the road to Brazil and back-to-back World Cup appearances.

“Ever since I came in I wanted us to be front-footed. We wanted to play with a bit of personality in the final third and I think we’ve continued to do that,” Ward added.

“It’s not easy to turn performances in but we’ve shown we’re a good side and good sides win in different ways, which we’ve done tonight.”

Ominously for Kazakhstan, who must pick themselves up and go again for Tuesday’s second leg in Cork, is that Republic of Ireland have won all three games they have played in Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

They will also be without captain Yulia Myasnikova for the return fixture after her red card in the first half after a VAR check, but Ward wants no let-up from her team in the second leg.

“We have to get ready and go put the same performance in on Tuesday.”