Next Saturday, Texas state capital Austin will play host to Vera Pauw's Republic of Ireland side as they step up their respective preparations for this summer's World Cup with the first match in a double-header of friendlies.
The venue will be the Q2 Stadium, home to Major League Soccer club Austin FC, and it's a place where an Irish player has already left an indelible mark.
Austin made their MLS bow in the 2021 season as an expansion team but their first eight fixtures were all away from home as final works on the Q2 Stadium were completed.
When they finally got to play in front of their supporters that June, no goals were forthcoming in the first two home games.
But on 1 July, the floodgates opened and it was a Dundalk-born wing-back who scored Austin's historic first home goal and sparked a 4-1 win over the Portland Timbers.
Two years on, Jon Gallagher, is making a name for himself as Austin's top scorer in the MLS this season, weighing in with three goals from defence including the league's Goal of the Matchday for week three.
But it's been a long and winding road to get to this point as the 27-year-old told RTÉ Sport this week in an in-depth chat about his career to date.
Watch the full interview below:
"I lived in Blackrock, just outside of Dundalk, played for my local team Blackrock and I was just a normal kid," he said of his early years.
But at the age of nine, the scenery changed drastically as his father's job with Guinness saw the family leave Louth and live in countries like Jamaica, the US, England and Singapore.
'As cliche as it is, football was always the easiest way to integrate into a new place'
The one constant though for a young Gallagher was football which made the transitions easier as the family moved from one new country to another every two or three years.
"I always had a football. As soon as I could walk, I had one at my feet," he recalled.
"My dad grew up playing rugby, my mum's side of the family played a lot of Gaelic so there wasn't a whole lot of football. But I just gravitated towards it.
"So I was always playing it whether it was with my mates, with my team or in the back garden, I always had a football at my feet.
"It's tough when you make friends at that age and you've got to move and start over but as cliche as it is, football was always the easiest way to integrate into a new place.
"So my dad would always show me where I was going to go on trial, where I was going to try and play and from there it was easy to make new friends."
Harbouring a dream of going professional, Gallagher felt it was necessary to try his hand in a more established football nation than Singapore where the family was based at the time. So aged 15, with his parents' backing, he made the bold decision to move to England by himself, enrolling himself in a boarding school at the same time.
"It was always trying to chase the dream. I never felt it was ever close but at the same time I always had belief. I gave myself no other option but to try and make it," he said, adding that while living alone in England at such a young age meant he had to grow up quick, it served him well in the long-term.
"It was daunting and it was at the back of my head, 'Am I going to make it? Is it just going to be for nothing?'"
But his belief would take the type of knocks that many young players experience in pursuit of a professional career.
Clubs like Newcastle and Blackburn took a close look at him during trials but deemed him too small. But as those doors closed, a phone conversation with his dad on the train back from the Blackburn trial inspired another pathway.
"He was like, 'Why don't you go overseas, go to America, get an education and play,'" said Gallagher.
That led to him getting in touch with universities in the US and an eventual move to the prestigious Indiana-based Notre Dame, whose sports teams all play under the 'Fighting Irish' moniker.
In his four years there, Gallagher scored 39 goals in 84 appearances, playing primarily as a winger or attacking midfielder, whilst majoring in business.
In 2018, he declared for the MLS' SuperDraft and ended up being selected by Atlanta United who were on the cusp of winning the MLS Cup, had ex-Barcelona manager Tata Martino in charge and had current Newcastle star Miguel Almiron spearheading their side.
However, while an enjoyable experience, first-team opportunities were hard to come by and his game-time was mostly restricted to Atlanta's second team which played in the lower tier United Soccer League. A turning point was just around the corner during the summer of 2019.
"I was on the bench for eight or nine matches with the first-team and not really getting any minutes so that was frustrating for myself," said Gallagher.
"But then I got called in by the technical director and he said, 'We want you to grow and get better. You're not getting your opportunity here. Aberdeen have reached out about you and there's a good chance we could get you on loan there.'"
The 2019-20 season at Aberdeen proved productive, with the chance to play in the Europa League and Scottish Premiership, including netting a goal against Rangers.
It also gave him the opportunity to compare where club soccer in America stood in comparison to Scottish football.
"There's probably a big similarity in the level between the two leagues," he said.
"I just think what differentiates it is the style of play. In Scotland, it's obviously less of a tactical battle. Sometimes the ball is in the air more and there's bigger players and you've got to compete for aerial duels, a lot more 50:50s and bigger challenges. It's quicker and you probably have less time on the ball, whereas in the MLS, there are a lot of players from South America that love the ball at their feet, love the ball on the floor and want to make a lot of passes."
Having made 30 appearances for Aberdeen, the loan spell proved beneficial and as a player who felt more suited to MLS' style of play, he didn't look back once he returned to Atlanta, going straight into their first team during the Covid-impacted 2020 campaign.
Then the chance came to join "the new kids on the block" Austin FC for the start of the 2021 season.
Aside from making history by scoring that aforementioned first home goal in the club's history, Gallagher's time in Texas has been notable for his transition from the wing to playing at full-back.
And as he has found this season, the move further back has not resulted in goals drying up but rather the opposite effect.
He started 2023 with a goal in their opening match against new expansion team St Louis City at the end of February.
Two weeks later on March 11, came a long-range rocket against Real Salt Lake when he cut inside from the flank onto his weaker left foot and let fly from distance, with the ball ball striking the crossbar on its way to the back of the net. It earned him the MLS' Goal of the Week.
"I'd kind of dribbled my way into pressure and didn't have any options, so I thought I'd take a crack at it and it was on my left foot as well, my weaker side. I struck it nicely and as I was wheeling off I thought this has a chance of going in and it hit the bar and went down so obviously it makes it look a bit sweeter."
Gallagher scored another early goal last weekend against Colorado Rapids but while he is enjoying a goal glut from full-back, he added that it's been a case of finding himself in "good spots" on field rather than a pressure to score more often.
"Maybe because I have experience as a winger, I have a bit more calmness in front of goal I'd like to think but who knows. Hopefully it continues but as I said to the fans and the media, don't expect me to be scoring 15-20 goals as a full-back!" he said.
Gallagher sees himself as a late bloomer and feels he is hitting his stride as a player physically and positionally compared to his younger years.
Even back then though, there had been interest from the Irish set-up with an opportunity to link up with the Under-21s during Noel King's tenure scuppered by a broken ankle.
"I wasn't called up per se but (King) had spoken to me and came to watch me train," he said.
"When I was back home one Christmas, I joined in with the team and he said, 'Let me just get eyes on you' and then he invited me into a March camp and then I broke my ankle ten days before that in my first pre-season as a pro, so it never came to fruition."
But with his career on the up and as an avid watcher of the Boys in Green from afar, Gallagher's long-term dream is to wear the green of the senior set-up one day.
"Who wouldn't want to play for their home country and represent my family, the people back home. It would be an honour. But it's not something that I'd expect to ever just be handed to me. I obviously have to work and do well as I am now and make a name for yourself which I feel like I am in recent years. MLS is a bit far away but hopefully with the league growing, I can get more exposure and maybe catch the eye of someone."
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