Ireland surrendered two points against Israel in their Group 4 World Cup qualifier as Abas Suan drove a daisy-cutter past an unsighted Shay Given to drag his side to a 1-1 draw tonight in Tel Aviv.
Ireland's inability to conjure up vital away results could return to haunt them yet again after throwing away two precious points en route to next summer's World Cup finals.
Germany was on the horizon after Clinton Morrison's fourth-minute opener separated the sides until just two seconds into injury time when Israel substitute Abas Suan deservedly drilled home the equaliser.
Ireland remain unbeaten, but with three draws from all their matches on the road, the pressure will be on later in the campaign to beat Group Four rivals France, Switzerland and Israel at Lansdowne Road if they are to take their place at international football's top table.
Manager Brian Kerr may perhaps regret being so defensive from the outset, playing Steve Finnan on the right wing rather than the more attack-minded Andy Reid.
Of course, it appeared for so long that such a tactic would reap handsome dividends, yet after Morrison's opener, Israel goalkeeper Dudu Awat was barely troubled.
It means footballing fever will continue to grip Israel for their next clash at home to France on Wednesday, with their current fervour underlined by the fact this was their first sell-out for a game since a World Cup play-off clash against Colombia 16 years ago.
The 41,000 crowd were whipped into an even greater frenzy during the two-hour build-up to the game by a tannoy system which hammered out Europop with so much bass it made the stadium reverberate.
Even an hour before kick-off the ground was two-thirds full, so understandably the boos and whistles which greeted Kerr's team for their pitch inspection and warm-up were loud and raucous.
The ire of the Israeli supporters increased when the Ireland players refused to finish their pre-match routine for several minutes after being requested to do so on a number of occasions by the pitchside announcer.
The catcalling continued once the whistle sounded, but then came silence after just 186 seconds, with Morrison scoring from a seemingly impossible angle. John O'Shea played in Damien Duff down the left wing and his run to the dead-ball line resulted in a low cross which took a deflection off Bolton defender Tal Ben Haim and fell into the path of Morrison.
Even after the 25-year-old had stolen in front of Shimon Gershon to meet Duff's pass, there appeared little danger from his position a yard in and on the edge of the six-yard box.
But with a deftness that would appear to make a mockery of club manager Steve Bruce's decision to keep him on the bench these days, Morrison swivelled sharply to rifle into the roof of the net for his first goal since St Stephen’s Day, ending a barren run of 12 matches.
It was a clinical finish, watched by Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, in the country at the invite of Israeli vice-president Shimon Peres to promote footballing harmony between Israeli and Palestinian children over the next couple of days.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich also looked on, with the billionaire here at the behest of Russian-Israeli businessman and close friend Lev Lebayev. They will undoubtedly have been impressed with the manner in which Shay Given preserved Ireland's lead in the 19th minute with a truly world-class save.
The Newcastle goalkeeper was at full stretch in tipping onto the post former Everton midfielder Idan Tal's 20-yard curler from a short free-kick involving Omri Afek.
The one major scare aside, Kerr's team exercised a degree of control over the half by playing a patient passing game in an attempt to frustrate their hosts, just as it did the Israeli supporters. It was Israel, though, who had the half chances, with Yaniv Katan guiding a cushioned header narrowly wide soon after Ireland's opener, while Omer Golan overstretched in his attempt to meet an Adoram Keisi left-wing cross, planting his header over.
When Katan seized upon a loose Duff pass and sprinted into the area, the danger was averted by Kenny Cunningham's challenge, with the Ireland captain also producing a vital block early in the second half to deny Yossi Benayoun.
That was the start of what could be described as a fortunate half for Ireland as the Israelis created enough opportunities to have potentially won the game.
But Benayoun snatched at a 15-yard shot when in the clear, with the ball sailing over the bar, and although he redeemed himself soon after with a mazy run past three Ireland players and a pass into Keisi, a grateful Given comfortably collected a 12-yard curler.
But Given was eventually beaten late on, with substitute Suan driving an inch-perfect 25-yard shot just beyond the keeper's grasp and inside the right-hand post.
To add to Kerr's angst, he will be without both talismanic midfielder Roy Keane and Stephen Carr for the Dublin clash against Israel in early June as they both collected their second cautions of the qualifying campaign.