Just as was the case a year ago this week, the Republic of Ireland Under-21 team are sharing matchday interest with their senior counterparts.
However, unlike 2024, Jim Crawford's youngsters have a star billing this evening in their televised UEFA European Championship qualifier against Andorra at Tallaght Stadium (kick-off 7.30pm).
That is because Heimir Hallgrimsson's team are in Yerevan, in a bid to reignite a World Cup qualifying already teetering on the brink following Saturday's draw with Hungary in Dublin, to face Armenia in a match that will get under way at 5pm Irish time.
In Tallaght on 10 September last year, less than 1,000 people were present to see the young Irish draw 2-2 with Latvia. Coming just days after a superb away victory over Turkey, the result brought Crawford's team crashing back down to earth.
It proved a fatal blow in their bid for a first major tournament qualification.
Naturally, Ireland's clash with Greece at the Aviva Stadium that night drew most of the attention, putting bums on seats in a way the Under-21s simply could not.
Tonight, the seniors are 4,000 kilometres away and there are hopes a bigger home crowd can get behind the team in their first return to Tallaght since that Latvian catastrophe.
"Latvia was a tough one to take and cost us," says Crawford, who confirmed he will make changes to the team that beat Moldova 2-1 in Nisporeni last Thursday.
"It is something that we bring into this game, because it was Tallaght Stadium. There wasn't a real atmosphere there because the seniors were playing at home later on that evening. But we're hoping that we're on a later kick-off, and we'll hope to get a few more at the game and hopefully generate a good atmosphere for the players.
"It'll be an atmosphere that the players deserve, because we've got a lot of talented players. I've no doubt we've got quite a few players in here that will be up for senior caps in the not too distant future because of the talent that they possess."
Crawford, who has two full qualifying campaigns under his belt as head coach now, admits that the visit of Andorra is "a banana skin" and says that belief is reinforced by counterpart Koldo Alvarez calling on a number of players who were part of Andorra's senior squad for their defeat to Thomas Tuchel's England on Saturday, including defender Biel Borra and Aron Rodrigo.
"That is a good challenge for us but I think it shows what has to be the flexibility of the smaller nations, players who are capable of playing in the senior team can come and play with the 21s as well and help develop themselves," he said.
"I've absolutely no problems with Andorra doing that. I've always said it's the way it should be. So they're going to be a stern test."
Still, anything less than making it six points from their opening two-game salvo would represent a disaster given the visitors minnow status and the quality of player at Crawford's disposal, including Tottenham Hotspur-bound Mason Melia, who scored both goals against Moldova.
The striker, should he start, and his fellow attackers are likely to come up against a packed Andorran defence tonight. They have won just two of their 83 European Championship qualifiers at this level, scoring just 23 times.
"In terms of breaking them down, we understand they'll come and they may drop off and play in a low block," he said. "You can never say never. But we're prepared.
"We have some really good players and they have to be at it. They have to understand that Andorra aren't going to sit back and allow Harry Vaughan, Jamie Mullins, Trent Kone-Doherty, Jad Hakiki, whoever it is, to own the game.
"They have to understand that they're going to be met with resistance. It could be aggressive resistance. There could be a lot of free kicks won. But we just have to keep going and hopefully we can make that breakthrough and get three points."
Crawford is keen to see a big crowd make the journey to Tallaght Stadium to watch his team, as he seeks an entirely different mood and outcome from their last visit to the venue.
"I think we've seen it in the last campaign, when we go to Turners Cross and it's packed out and you get a real sense of an event," he said. "The players buy into that and they love it. They want to showcase how good they are. For the fans to get an opportunity to see that first hand, up close and personal, I can guarantee is a nice experience.
"As opposed to going to an empty stadium - there were a couple of hundred there I think against Latvia - and we knew we were going to struggle with numbers.
"There's hindsight with everything. A lot of people will have said we should have gone back down to Cork with the fanbase but had we got beat down in Cork against Latvia, people would have said we should have played in Tallaght with the big pitch. I've no regrets.
"What it is is a huge learning moment for those players that went into that game. They cannot take their foot off the pedal at this level. It's a sprint."
Watch the Republic of Ireland play Armenia in World Cup qualifying from 4.30pm on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on the RTÉ News App and on rte.ie/sport. Listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1 Extra from 4.55pm.
Watch Republic of Ireland Under-21s v Andorra Under-21s on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player after the senior game.
