Jamie McGrath is hoping to bring back better memories from Baku compared with his last visit to the Azerbaijan capital, which led to an impromptu police escort off some private property, coupled with a disappointing 3-0 Champions League defeat.
Playing for Dundalk back in 2019, McGrath was partaking in some pre-game media duties, shooting with the RTÉ cameras and strolling along a scenic promenade, when a host of local constabulary called a halt to proceedings.
Filming permits had neither been sought nor granted, and after initial negotiations were lost in translation, McGrath and fellow former Lilywhite Sean Gannon skulked away unscathed to prepare for the more pressing matters of a second leg encounter with local side Qarabag.
Dundalk's Champions League journey ended that night in Baku, and while Ireland’s World Cup path has already run down a cul de sac, the current St Mirren midfielder is hoping to build on last month’s excellent outing in Portugal as he looks to become a regular in Stephen Kenny’s side.
McGrath was a bit of a surprise inclusion in the starting XI at the Algarve arena, as Ireland shocked the home side by taking the lead on the stroke of half-time, and holding it until two minutes remained of the 90.
Ireland have only managed two points from five games in the campaign, and while their hopes of qualifying for next year’s World Cup in Qatar went up in flames early in the campaign, losing to Luxembourg, Kenny’s side are now building towards Euro 2024.
"I nearly got arrested! Hopefully it’s not like that this time," said McGrath, speaking to the media ahead of the team’s trip to the Azerbaijan capital.
"I think it was me and Sean Gannon at the time, we were out there for Dundalk playing against Qarabag. We were doing media for RTÉ at the time and we were beside the sea, on this boardwalk.
"We were doing an interview to camera and out of nowhere about five policemen came up on this little cart. It turned out we were the culprits. We didn’t realise we were doing anything wrong.
"They were kind of getting a bit aggressive and we were looking around, we didn’t know what we did wrong. It turns out it was private property that we were doing an interview on. We didn’t nearly get arrested, but it was a good story."
Looking back to the game in Portugal, McGrath admits that it was the highlight of his career so far, and while he knew that he was going to get some game time during the international window, he did not find out until an hour before kick-off that he would be starting against Ronaldo & Co.
"It was definitely the highlight of my career so far," said McGrath.
"[The manager] rang me a week or two before the camp, saying, 'I’m bringing you in to play, you’re not just coming to make up the numbers’.
"So I didn’t really know what way to take that. Obviously, to get told an hour before kick-off was such an adrenaline buzz.
"I just had to process it and get my touch right in the warm-up and go from there.
"I was happy with how I did overall, but the main thing was we didn’t get the points on the board.
"The result, up to the 90th minute would have been one of the best in history, if we held onto that 1-0 win. It’s going to be the best night of my career until I retire."
Looking ahead to Saturday’s encounter, McGrath believes that the side will benefit from a full week’s training ahead of the game, compared with the quick-fire, three-game window in September.
And McGrath is hoping that his performance against Portugal will stand to him as the manager looks to pick an attack-minded side to go out and secure his first competitive win since taking over the role.
"We have a full week’s training, which is kind of unusual," said McGrath.
"We have a full week to work on things. Obviously, we are going out there to try and win, and hopefully we can do that.
"It’s going to be a clean slate for everyone to try and impress the gaffer. That’s going to be everyone’s goal this week, to train well and see where that takes you.
"[I’m confident after Portugal], but you can’t really take anything for granted. All I’m focused on is training well and putting my best foot forward."
Azerbaijan secured a creditable draw in Dublin in the reverse fixture, and while Ireland will still go into the game as favourites, McGrath’s brief spell as an international player has confirmed the cliché that there are no easy games.
"There is pressure in every game you play, you could see when we played Andorra it's not easy and we came through," said McGrath.
"You never have an easy game in football, no matter what level you play.
"We go in as favourites, but it will be hard, we'll have to do a lot of work this week to put things right.
"We saw in the last trip that it's never a gimme, so we are going to have to work hard, train well and give ourselves the best chance of winning on Saturday."
Follow Azerbaijan v Republic of Ireland via our liveblog on RTÉ.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app, watch live on RTÉ 2 and the RTÉ Player, or listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport.
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