How does it feel to be the owner of the most talked about shin in Ireland?
Denise O'Sullivan puffs out her cheeks and tries to make sense of a wild week.
The Corkwoman, as tough as she is skillful, admits now that she feared her World Cup dream had been shattered eight days ago.
A late tackle during Ireland's behind-closed-doors match against Colombia left O'Sullivan lying in the turf in a lot of pain. Vera Pauw made the decision to abandon the game due to concerns about the Colombians' physical approach, O'Sullivan went to hospital for a scan, and back in Ireland the country went into mass panic.
"It was mental," says O'Sullivan, who was speaking to the media from the team's hotel in Brisbane on Saturday.
"The thing blew up. I didn't know what to do. It was obviously stressful seeing it all over social media because that's not the attention I wanted on the team, and for myself. I wanted to focus on the [Australia] game.
"But it happened. I was nervous myself for the next few hours, to see if I could recover in time, and that’s all I was thinking about.
"With Ange [Angela Kenneally, the team physio], I was actually shaking in the hospital because I was so nervous and emotional. But yeah, I mean, I got the results and I was able to relax a bit.
"I was giving absolutely everything I could to do that, and luckily I did and I was glad I was able to be out there with the team."
O'Sullivan was back in training just three days after the incident and went on to deliver a typically accomplished performance of grit, hard running and composure against the Matildas.
Ireland fell to a 1-0 defeat in front of 75,000 fans at the Accor Stadium but there's no sense that progression to the knockout stages is beyond them.
Canada's subsequent goalless draw with Nigeria has opened up the group. Four points would likely be enough to make it to the last 16; there's even a scenario - if Australia beat both Canada and Nigeria by more than one goal - that two points would do it.
Next up for Ireland is a huge showdown with the Canadians in Perth on Wednesday - and O'Sullivan is armed with some inside knowledge about the reigning Olympic champions.
"I read somewhere yesterday that there were eight players on the pitch in that [Canada v Nigeria] game yesterday that are in the NWSL, and the biggest name there is obviously Christine Sinclair," adds the 29-year-old, who plays in the States herself with North Carolina Courage.
"She is a massive player, a massive leader. She has scored an awful lot of goals in big tournaments, I think she might be the top goalscorer in the World Cup.
"She is an excellent player, and I play against a lot of players who were on that pitch yesterday. That is something I will be studying over the next few days."
"It is great to see the amount of people that are behind this team and supporting us."
O'Sullivan came off social media after her injury because the discourse around the whole incident was so intensely overwhelming.
However, she has been keeping up with how the family are getting into the World Cup spirit back in Cork, with photos and videos regularly pinged her way.
"They're enjoying it anyway, they are loving the experience," she smiles.
"Their support has been absolutely massive. To see my mam with the smile on her face, as she does every single day during this tournament, has been phenomenal. She is even doing interviews. Now my mam doesn't speak much, honestly. She doesn’t, and I'm thinking, 'wow I am proud of you girl, doing all these interviews'.
"The excitement back there and the buzz back there has been unbelievable, the amount of watch parties going on back in Cork has been unreal. It is great to see the amount of people that are behind this team and supporting us."
O'Sullivan's upper right arm is decorated with tattoos, and two in particular feel particularly apt right now. One is the word 'Resilience', inked over the No 10, her shirt number. The other is a map of Ireland with a small heart marking the city of Cork.
A love of county and country drives the playmaker who is so crucially important to Ireland's hopes.
"It was everything I dreamed of since I was a kid," she says of making her World Cup bow against Australia.
"I was really proud to go out there the other night, and just standing in that tunnel, the Irish just took over the stadium, to be honest. The minute we ran out, they were singing songs and it was just an unbelievable experience to play in front of 75,000 people. The most I probably played in front of was 25 to 30,000, so yeah, it was class.
"I think we gave a really good account of ourselves in that game, Australia being number 10 in the world, we really put it up to them and we showed what we can do on the world stage. I don't think nerves took over, I don’t think we got overwhelmed, I think we looked really relaxed in the game and we want to bring that into the next game.
"I want to do everything I can to be at my best for this team but I think I can always do better. I'll be watching the video the next few days, watching myself back and seeing what I can do better for the team and what I can do more."
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