The Ireland team arrived into Lisbon, greeted by clear blue skies across the Portuguese capital, and yet a dark cloud appears to shroud this squad wherever it travels.
Almost ten years in the making, the fortunes of the national team have been spiralling downwards ever since Shane Duffy's red card signalled the end of Ireland’s involvement at Euro 2016, their last major tournament.
World Cup 2018 hopes ended in a humiliating home defeat to Denmark, losing 5-1 at Lansdowne, which led to the eventual exit of dream team Martin and Roy.
Covid would then put an end to Dublin hosting Euro 2020, the Swiss would ensure that Mick McCarthy could not repeat the feat of 2002, while Stephen Kenny’s fledglings paid the penalty in the play-off in Bratislava.
Losing to Luxembourg at home in the second game of the campaign put paid to the World Cup chances in 2022, while the Euro 2024 campaign, again, was all-but over before it really started thanks to a defeat in Athens.
Hopes were elevated ahead of the 2026 campaign, however, it all appears to have been built on sand as Hallgrimsson’s side were exposed in their opening two games.
This tournament’s format, coupled with the fact that Portugal look set to run away with the group, means that a chance still exists, yet Ireland cannot afford any more slip ups.
John O’Shea said that Ireland could have done with a game straight away to banish the blues following the shocking defeat to Armenia in Yerevan last month.
The struggling side have had to wait quite a bit longer and now, somehow, they have to attempt to restore confidence in what should be the toughest game of the campaign.
A string of press conferences in Dublin attempted to portray a positive image, implying that the Armenia defeat was dealt with early in the week, and a line has been drawn in the sand.
And yet there is a sense that while the players are clinging on to all the positivity that was evident about the camp ahead of the September games, the run of results over the past five years really appears to be weighing on their shoulders.
Hallgrimsson said early in his tenure that the jersey appears too heavy for some of the squad, suggesting that the players cannot deal with the expectation of representing their country.
However, it appears an analogy that is not so straightforward, as the one constant that came from the players that faced the media this week was that their love of playing for Ireland was stronger than ever.
Jayson Molumby was angry at not being involved in the last international window, Troy Parrott was extra diligent overcoming injury to make sure that he was ready to come back and pull on that jersey, while Finn Azaz cannot wait to test himself against the best on Saturday night in Lisbon.
Both Molumby and Azaz, however, spoke of underachieving in an Ireland jersey and it all appears to come from an idea that qualifying for a major tournament is the only barometer to measure an international career.
O’Shea spoke with passion on glories past this week and urged the players to go and write their own chapter, while referencing a strong template that needs to be taken into every game, the Irish performance.
Portugal will no doubt sense they are coming up against a very fragile opponent, and will be more than happy to put Ireland out of their misery, but Hallgrimsson’s side may show that they can frustrate and limit the home side to shots from distance should they get things right in defence.
But how to get a performance out of a team lacking confidence? It starts with improving in all the areas that went wrong in Yerevan, according to O’Shea.
"It's the units staying together. It's that collective unit, the attacking, midfield, defence. It's all those units staying together.
"It's your structure, isn't it? You have to remain close, sticking together, moving up and down the pitch together. That's the things that we have to make sure we're spot on against Portugal."
And as for confidence, is winning the only way to restore it?
"I think that's the easiest way," said O’Shea. "You get the confidence up when you're winning football matches."
Watch Portugal v Republic of Ireland in World Cup qualifying on Saturday from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to live radio commentary on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
