Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan has two Everton heroes. One is Tim Howard, the commanding former USA No 1 who spent nine years at Goodison Park. The other is Seamus Coleman - a "special" influence who regularly offers words of encouragement.
Brosnan has been at the Toffess for almost two years now, arriving after her deal at West Ham expired. It's been an excellent move for the New Jersey-born 27-year-old, one that's helped her become Vera Pauw's first-choice stopper thanks to a period of considerable improvement.
She was immense throughout Ireland's succesful World Cup qualification campaign, making crucial stops at crucial times in the biggest games. Lest we forget, Brosnan made a brilliant penalty save to deny Scotland's Caroline Weir in the play-off at Hampden Park before Amber Barrett later poked home the winner.
"That just shows his character and how special the guy he is."
She's back on American soil this week to face the USA in two friendlies as Ireland ramp up preparations for the World Cup in July.
"I always looked up to Tim Howard," she said ahead of Saturday's clash with America in Austin, Texas on Saturday night [live on RTÉ2 from 7pm].
"He was a big one for me because I feel like he was one of the first US goalkeepers to make it over in the Premier League and over in Europe. I felt he was always someone I really, really looked up to.
"You got Seamus Coleman at Everton, he's obviously someone I've always looked up to as well. You can't really get two better role models, one on the Irish side, one on the American side, so it's pretty cool.
"Seamus is a great guy. I think everybody knows that and something that sticks out for me, when I got back to Everton after we beat Scotland and qualified, he was one of the first to come up to me, give me a hug and just say how proud he was, how the whole country was behind us and that they were really excited for us.
"Yeah, it made it really special for me. That just shows his character and how special the guy he is. That was really cool for me."
Brosnan is good friends with USA keeper Casey Murphy, who could be between the posts for Vlatko Andonovski's team at the weekend. They grew up about 20 minutes from each other in New Jersey, and were on the same Players Development Academy [PDA] team for years.
"We grew up playing together since we were quite young, we played on the same team at PDA since we were 14, 15, probably a little bit younger," said Brosnan.
"So yeah, she's a good friend and we've been texting back and forth, looking forward to meeting back up. It's amazing for me to see her do so well in the NWSL [with North Carolina Courage] and on the US team. And it's cool for her to see me do well for Ireland and over in the WSL.
"I'm really looking forward to getting back to seeing her on the pitch."
There'll be other familiar faces in the crowd too as Ireland look to shut out argably the best team in the world.
"In Austin, my dad's going to be there, and I have quite a few friends from back home in New Jersey, friends from growing up that are coming," added Brosnan.
"Two of my best friends and her sister and dad are coming and then my other friend and her fiancé are coming so I have a big group and then my mom and sister are meeting my dad in St Louis [where a second friendly will be played on Tuesday], so they'll be at that one as well.
"There's no denying the special team that they have."
"It'll be great to put in some good performances and see how everyone's getting on and just keep moving forward and put our best foot forward.
"There's no denying the special team that they have and the forwards, the attacking players they have are world class.
"We're just trying to go in there and put in the best performance we can as a team and prepare for the World Cup in the best way that we can. And yeah, for me it would be really special to be able to keep a clean sheet and like I've always been up front about, I just try to do the best I can for the team and fulfil the role that we need from me.
"I'll be looking to do hopefully the same during the time here in the US."
Watch USA v Republic of Ireland on Saturday from 7pm live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player and follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app.
