Saoirse Noonan is ready to soak up every minute of a landmark day when the Republic of Ireland line up at the Aviva Stadium's "field of dreams".
The Cork native is desperate for a chance to impress against Northern Ireland on Saturday (Live on RTÉ2) after missing out on selection for the summer's World Cup.
Noonan has played at the Lansdowne Road venue before; she won the FAI Cup with Cork City there back in 2017. But there's a unique vibe to this occasion.
Around 30,000 fans are expected to turn up for the first game post the Vera Pauw era - an international derby to kickstart the UEFA Nations League campaign.
Pauw's exit has left some painful wounds. Diane Caldwell delivered a scathing assessment of her tenure on Monday, opening up a whole new can of worms and, perhaps, increasing the pressure on this Irish team to prove they are good enough to break away from Pauw's regimented, defensive approach.
Noonan offered a guarded take - and some perspective - on the fallout, when acknowledging: "Of course there's going to be noise where women's football has grown bigger and more people are getting involved and looking at it. We're aware of all that, but at the end of the day we are so proud to represent our country.
"Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Things happen, sport changes so quick. For me, not being in the World Cup squad, that's hard, but it's life. We all have to try and move on.
"A football career is not long, you've got to enjoy every minute.
"We can't change the past, we have to move forward now. Everyone is going to have their own views. I'm just glad to be back in. I want to look at Saturday and move forward."
The 24-year-old is now fully settled at Championship side Durham after a nasty hamstring/knee injury hindered her move there a year ago.
The homesickness has eased too, helped by a Cork-based business distraction. Noonan has her own clothing company, Freedom Official Clothing, that comes with the tagline, 'Create your own reality'.
"I live in Durham but my clothing brand is still in Ireland. That's nice to come home to. I come away from the football pitch and have a bit of switch-off time, something else to look at. It keeps me in touch with all the girls at home as well.
"That's the reason I started it. As a child growing up, being a female, you don't know if you're going to make it [in football], or if you are going to make a career or a living out of it. That's scary when it's all you want to do.
"You realise your career is short and things do change in the flick of a switch. It's good to know I've tried to build something in the background and I can go and come away from the football media and hype around it, and try to switch off, put my mind on something else."
Noonan was nurturing a hugely promising inter-county Gaelic football career with Cork before focusing completely on soccer. She's played at Croke Park, experienced intense championship days in front of bumper crowds.
Once you get a taste of that atmosphere, you always want more.
"My biggest experience [at the Aviva Stadium] is winning the cup final with Cork City there," she adds.
"It's a field of dreams, and that's where you want to be, on the big stage.
"We've pushed to get in the Aviva. We want a big crowd there, and we want to put on a show for everyone and perform. We know what this team is capable of now.
"We have the crest on us every day. We're all just looking forward to Saturday. We want to make that a special occasion. It should be a special occasion, that's what we should be looking at."
Watch Republic of Ireland v Northern Ireland in the UEFA Nations League on Saturday from 12.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to live commentary on RTÉ 2fm
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