Striker Jon Walters feels "blessed" as he prepares to launch himself into Euro 2012 battle.
The Stoke frontman is one of 20 players within the squad who has not kicked a ball in the finals of a major tournament, but that will be remedied for many on Sunday evening when they open their Group C campaign against Croatia in Poznan.
With manager Giovanni Trapattoni having indicated he is likely to start with skipper Robbie Keane and Kevin Doyle in attack, Walters may have to wait for his opportunity.
However, he knows the chance which lies ahead for him is one some players will never have.
Walters, who arrived in Poland yesterday morning, said: "These are the moments you have got to enjoy. There are some top players who never get the chance to be in a major tournament, so to be here, I feel very blessed and very privileged.
"It's been a long couple of weeks and everyone wanted to get going and get here. You want to come through injury-free, yet you want to play to your full potential in the games and get ready."
Walters added: "Now we are here, it's going to be building up now to the first game. I am sure as each day goes along, it is going to be busier and busier."
Trapattoni last night moved to ease some of the workload on his players by cancelling interviews which had been pencilled in for today.
The bulk of the squad will have been together for a full three weeks by the time the whistle sounds to start of the Croatia game, with Malahide, Montecatini and Budapest having provided a series of different backdrops for the squad.
Walters, like several of his team-mates, was unaware that Trapattoni had already effectively named his team for the Sunday's game, but insists it will make no difference to his own preparations.
He said: "I didn't know he had named his XI and said it was for next week until a minute ago.
"As a young boy, I was brought up to believe if you are on the bench, you have got to prepare as if you were starting the game because 30 seconds or a minute in, you could get a bad injury to one of the strikers and you could be on."
