A packed house at the Aviva Stadium awaits Jonathan Afolabi on Sunday, when he is expected to lead the line for Bohemians in the Sports Direct Men's FAI Cup Final against St Patrick's Athletic.
It's a setting he got a taste of recently, after his electric club form this season earned him a late call-up to Stephen Kenny's Ireland squad for the Euro 2024 qualifier at home to the Netherlands in September.
The 23-year-old would end up watching the 2-1 defeat for the Boys in Green from the stands, but it was an experience that he will draw on as he takes to the pitch at the same ground against St Pat's on Sunday.
"That was a very big moment," Afolabi told RTÉ Sport's Tony O'Donoghue in the build-up to the Aviva Stadium showpiece.
"I couldn't believe it when I saw the call from Stephen Kenny. I'd worked with him at Under-21 level and getting the call was something that you just can't imagine.
"I almost got straight in the car to go to the hotel and meet everyone. It was an experience I will definitely never forget, seeing the stadium packed and everything, it was great.
"You can see the standard is really high, all the planning and preparation they [Ireland] put into getting a result. It's definitely stuff that you dream of being surrounded with and it was a great experience."
The call-up was the ultimate honour for Afolabi during a season in which the plaudits have arrived thick and fast.
The Tallaght native finished as joint-top scorer in the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Divison, alongside Jack Moylan of Shelbourne, after both men hit the 15-goal mark in the top flight.
Throw in four goals during Bohs' cup run and Afolabi is on the verge of 20 for the season, a target that he set out at the beginning of the campaign, and one he could reach underneath the glare of the Aviva Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
"It was one of my targets at the start of the season," he said of his 20-goal aim. "It was a mark that I was trying to get to, and hopefully that can be done on Sunday.
"You have to set targets realistically, so at the start of the season you see how many games you have, see how many chances are being created."
The season started off slowly, as Afolabi found the net just twice in his first 19 appearances, before a golden summer saw him embark on a run of 13 goals in 12 games.
Afolabi puts this upswing down to a mix of his own determination as well as benefitting from the help of his teammates and Gypsies manager Declan Devine.
"At the start of the season, I wasn't happy with myself not scoring that many goals early on," Afolabi reflects.
"Everyone around me kept me going, they let me know how much I was helping the team regardless.
"But I had to look at myself and be critical, so I'd stay back and have staff members help me out with positioning and things to help me get closer to my target of scoring goals.
"He [Devine] has been unbelievable since he came in, he's changed a lot. He's brought in a lot of players and it did take a while for us to click, we were winning games at the start of the season, which was very good for the group and the morale but we hit a little bump mid-season and it cost us towards the end.
"He's been really good and he's been very helpful with team and individually with different players. He's definitely a massive help to the club."
Afolabi's journey to the Aviva has taken him from childhood in Tallaght, to spells at Southampton and Celtic, with four loans in Scotland thrown into the mix.
Now thriving back at home, Afolabi recognises the value of all of those experiences, as he looks ahead to starring on the biggest date on the Irish football calendar.
"Football was always in the forefront for me," he said. "I started when I was around six or seven playing for the same team as my brother, a small club in Tallaght called Mark's Celtic.
"I ended up playing for Shamrock Rovers for a year or two and moved on to another few clubs. St Joseph's Boys was one of them and that's where I got my move to England.
"I ended up going to Scotland, played for Celtic, a couple of loan moves from there and now I'm back home. So it [football] has always been a part of me.
"Southampton was a very good experience, they have one of the best academies in the world. They have top facilities and everything you need to improve in one space.
"It was a good experience. There were a lot of people I met, coaching staff and players, that are still at a high level.
"A few of them are playing for Ireland's first team, the likes of Will Smallbone and Michael Obafemi. We were all really close and there are definitely some memories that I will hold onto for life there.
"Luckily, I was one of those kids that was confident and happy going away by myself, learning what I'm about and how I deal with different situations.
"I wasn't too homesick, I'd say. I like going out and venturing around so being in Scotland, Covid happened when I was there, so I had to become my own man quicker than what you'd be used to.
"Stuff like that definitely helps with your character and I'm grateful for all the memories I have and the way it panned out."
While Afolabi is yet to wear the green of Ireland at senior level, he has tasted a level of success at underage level, as he was named in the team of the tournament at the 2019 Under-19 European Championship in Armenia.
Afolabi's performances were key as Tom Mohan's side reached the semi-final, where they eventually lost 4-0 to Portugal.
The squad featured the likes of now-senior internationals Andrew Omobamidele and Festy Ebosele, and it was another key milestone of Afolabi's fledging career, particularly as he wasn't attached to any club at the time.
"It was unbelievable to get to the semi-finals," he says. "The memories there were unbelievable, the players that came out, a lot of them are still playing now.
"That was a real special group to be a part of and to come out as one of the best players at that tournament, I was one of the only players that wasn't attached to a team, so it was definitely a mad situation to be in. I worked my socks off for that moment so it was good.
Further international honours may come at a later date, but for now Afolabi's attention is on finishing off a cup run that has already seen Shelbourne, Rockmount, Drogheda United and Galway United put to the sword.
Bohs' FAI Cup campaign has coincided with Afolabi's scoring streak, and he looks back fondly on each step of the journey so far, the latest of which saw him set up Dylan Connolly for the winner against the Tribesmen in the semi-final.
"To play against Shels is always a big game" Abolabi recalls.
"The atmosphere that day was great in Dalymount, the place was packed. It was in the middle of my scoring run, I think it was four on the bounce at time, and for it to be a header, I rarely score headers, so it was a great game.
"I got player of the month at the end of that, I think I went six or seven games in a row scoring but it almost felt like a team achievement, the way we all planned how to create chances, how we worked extra hard in training to make sure stuff went in the back of the net, it was fitting for it to be at that moment especially.
"Drogheda a very tough place, it's been proven, a lot of teams go there and struggle but on that day we knew what we had to do to get into the next round and we were going to do whatever possible.
"Even the setback with the penalty that they scored to level it up again, we still had that belief that we really wanted to get into the next round. James Clarke created the chance for me to make it 2-1 and I sealed it with a penalty in the end.
"In creating Dylan's chance [against Galway], he really deserved that, I know he wouldn't be happy with the stats that he's put out this season but he's been a crucial player in our team this season and for him to get that goal, I was happy to put that on a plate for him to get us 1-0 up going into half-time."
So, what of the St Pat's, the club that defeated Bohs on penalties, when they last met in the final as recently as 2021?
They clubs last faced each other at Dalymount Park on 20 October, when the Saints won 2-0, the second victory for the Inichicore side over their Dublin rivals in four meetings this season.
Bohs won the first back in March, and there has also been a scoreless draw, and Afolabi feels that the two sides are more than familiar with each other's strengths.
"We know that they're a very attack-minded team," Afolabi says.
"They have lively players at the top end of their pitch. A lot of times when we've played them, we would have gone head-to-head with each other, one team would attack, and see who can score first.
"The last game we played them at home, it was kind of changed and it's just something that you have to look at and adjust to.
"You almost want to implement your style of play before the other team does. You can just get a feel of the way the game is going and make your decisions but at the same time, it's a final so there's no way you can judge these types of things, you just have to prepare yourself to the best of your ability and make sure you're the hungrier team on the day.
After finishing sixth in the league, the cup final is last chance saloon for Bohs if they want to play in Europe next season.
"It's not something to take lightly," says Afolabi on the prospect of securing a first major trophy since 2009, and a continental campaign that would go with it.
"We have to be fully-focused, we know how much it means to the club and the fans especially. It would be a great achievement for our team to be able to bring the trophy back, that's the aim at the end of the day. There's no point in going there to come second, you want to lift that trophy at the end of the day.
So, would scoring the winning goal in the cup final lead to more Ireland recognition for the Bohs talisman?
"I haven't thought that far," says Afolabi on getting another international call-up. "I just want to lift that cup. It's maybe 120 minutes of football away so you have to prepare and almost treat it as another game. There's no point in playing up the occasion.
"Just stay level-headed, feet on the ground and go out there and give it everything you have so you have no regrets coming off that pitch."
Watch the FAI Cup final, Bohemians v St Patrick's Athletic, on Sunday from 2pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to live radio commentary on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.
