The vibes around the Republic of Ireland camp have been defiantly confident this week as they prepare to take on France in their opening Euro 2025 qualifier.
Herve Renard's slick, powerful team are ranked third in the world. They crushed Ireland 3-0 in a pre-World Cup friendly last July, and will be overwhelming favourites to get past them again when the teams colide in Metz on Friday night.
And yet Denise O'Sullivan can't wait for it. The Cork midfielder missed February's friendlies against Italy and Wales with a knee injury and her influence at the Stade Saint-Symphorie will be absolutely critical if the Girls in Green are to have any hope of plundering a positive result.
Big players always relish the chance to test themselves against the elite; game recognises game. O'Sullivan has plenty of respect for the French, but she holds no fear.
"I think as an athlete, a professional you want to be playing against the top teams in the world," she said.
"Now we have that opportunity, so I think we need to take it with both hands and go out and give it everything tomorrow night and see what happens.
"We know how good France are, but we’re not here to just make up the numbers. We’re here to compete and we’re here to go far and we’re really looking forward to it."
In the post mortem of Vera Pauw's departure as manager last August, one thing that cropped up frequently was the players' collective desire to play a more expansive brand of football.
They racked up the goals, and the wins, during a flawless UEFA Nations League campaign but this is a different kettle of fish. Ireland haven't faced a team as good as France since they played... well, France, last July.
They'll have to get the balance between taking the game to their hosts when possible, and depriving Renard's carousel of talented attackers the space to do damage.
"The past few years, this team has come on in leaps and bounds," O'Sullivan reflected. "We have that experience from the World Cup, playing in a major tournament and we'll take that on board.
"But I think this team is definitely ready to play against these teams. We went through the Nations League and did well, but we know now what we have ahead.
"We still need to be defensively organised, hard to beat but use the opportunities when we get the ball. When we get the ball, it’s about what we can do from there.
"This is a massive challenge and they’re a really good side. We have to be realistic as well about these games, you know?"
So what is realistic, in terms of a result?
"I think getting a draw would be massive for us," she added. "That’s definitely realistic as something we can do. We have to be switched on for every minute and not switch off at all.
"For the times we do get the ball, we have to be sure that we do something with it because you don’t get many opportunities against these teams. Hopefully we can put one away with the opportunities we get."
If Ireland manage to finish in the top two of a group that also includes England and Sweden, they'll qualify automatically for the Euros in Switzerland next year. However they're guaranteed a spot in the play-off semi-finals even if they end up rock bottom.
A handy consolation prize, but not one that's attracting O'Sullivan's gaze.
"I haven't even looked towards the play-off, it’s not even in the back of my mind," she said.
"The mindset going into this is to do well in these games. Every game is going to be a final for us. It’s a massive task. We’re not here to make up the numbers, we’re here to do well and compete against these teams.
"It’s a massive challenge but we’re here to compete and we’re looking forward to it."
Watch France v Republic of Ireland in Euro 2025 qualifying on Friday from 7.35pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on 2fm's Game On
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