"I'm repeating myself but maybe we have too little belief going into games like this. At this level, you need to have your chest forward when you play games, you need to be on the front foot."
Those words were uttered by Heimir Hallgrimsson very early in his reign as Republic of Ireland manager.
It was September 2024 and a Nations League defeat in Greece had left his record reading two defeats from two.
Fast forward to the present in Prague and belief is a word that Hallgrimsson and the veteran Séamus Coleman readily reached for as they revved up for tonight's World Cup play-off semi-final against Czechia (7.45pm Irish time).
But the context is different this time. Unlike two years ago, when straws were clutched tightly, this Irish squad have something tangible to hold onto.
The belief was forged in the fires of last November when they not only stunned Portugal but then followed it up in a Budapest cauldron by beating Hungary 3-2 to a place in the World Cup play-offs.
"There was such a belief in the camp that week," Coleman said on the eve of tonight's clash against Czechia, when only victory will do to keep dreams of a summer in North America alive.
"It is hard to explain without being there, but there was such a belief that week, that I fully believed we could get back into the game and create something and when Troy got his second goal, I felt that if we scored in or around that time, I just felt that we could get back in that game.
"I fully believed that the lads would get the job done, whether that was naive of me or not, but it proved not to be. I thought they would get the job done and so they did.
"And it was a great night, great for our confidence, great for us as team moving forward and it brings us to today."
Today, of course, being in the 19,370-seater Fortuna Arena where only about a thousand of the approximately 6,000 Irish fans who have descended on Prague will look to spur the Boys in Green on.
Belief will be key in that partisan backdrop. Especially when this semi-final has all the hallmarks of a battle of wills between two evenly-matched outfits rather than a tactical tussle.
Hallgrimsson does not have any other expectations based on the tone set by his Czech counterpart Miroslav Koubek.
"How they have been talking is this is going to be a war," the Ireland boss told Tony O'Donoghue pitchside on Wednesday as he and the players got used to the surroundings.
"(Koubek) is selecting characters for a war, kind of talking us down, mediocre team etc. So he will probably want this to be about fight and duels and we just need to be cool in our heads, smarter than going for something that they are good at."
For his part, Koubek has since bluntly denied that he saw the Irish playing style as anything approaching backwards.
The expectation is that both teams' shapes may mirror each other to a degree. Koubek has tended to rely on a 3-4-1-2 in his long coaching career, while the less tactically rigid Hallgrimsson leaned on a back three in the latter stages of the qualifiers.
The Irish rearguard looks likely to be staffed by Coleman, Jake O'Brien, Nathan Collins, Dara O'Shea and Ryan Manning.
Both sides can rely on forwards capable of making a difference. Troy Parrott has the wind in his sails for club and country with Finn Azaz primed to provide some of the ammunition.
For their part, the Czechs will rely on the returning Bayer Leverkusen's Patrik Schick and Lyon attacking midfielder Pavel Sulc to provide the cutting edge.
Both have recovered from recent injuries but by that token, the Boys in Green also have a clutch of players who have missed valuable game-time in the likes of Adam Idah, Robbie Brady and Coleman.
Neither side rely heavily on creativity in the engine room which sets the stage for a physical contest.
Admittedly, Ireland do have a lingering question mark as to who will come in for the injured Josh Cullen.
"Obviously, he has always been the first one on the team sheet and he would have had different partners, so we need to partner partners," Hallgrimsson.
"And it's been good. Everyone knows what we expect from our midfielders and they have been doing it on the sessions, so we're just confident that nothing will change in that sense."
Meanwhile, the Czech rumour mill has spun around the question of whether the now former captain Tomas Soucek will even start. His manager Koubek was non-committal on that question.
Soucek's replacement as skipper, Wolves defender Ladislav Krejci, spoke in more bullish tones about they hope to deal with Parrott.
"Of course, we're looking for him because we know his qualities. He's a good player but I believe we will stop him," Krejci told RTÉ Sport.
Both teams also share a common experience of recent setbacks that hint at vulnerability beneath the surface.
For Armenia away in September for Ireland, read the choppy waters around the Faroe Islands for the Czechs - a 2-1 defeat that played no small part in a divide between team and supporters which led to Soucek's demotion.
While the Czech public's relationship with its national team is under scrutiny, there is no doubt that Ireland are taking some of their belief from the fervor which has been transported en masse to the streets of Prague.
"It's incredible, it’s what this football team can do," said Coleman of the Irish support.
"I’ve said it before the results last time, that this football team can lift the nation and we were proved right with that.
"We’re so grateful for their support, we’re so grateful that they’re getting here anyway they can, many flights, trains, whatever way they can to be part of it. As long as our supporters know that we don’t take that for granted and we want to give them another good night tonight."
Victory in Prague, whether it be in normal time, extra-time or via penalties, would of course only mean the job is half done.
A play-off final would still await at Aviva Stadium next Tuesday. Coleman, for one, is quietly confident that night in Dublin will be a shootout for a fabled World Cup place rather than a damp squib.
"(It's) belief, we're looking forward to it. You know there was a time when maybe this didn’t look like it would be the case where we wouldn’t be in this position so I think we’ve got to be confident, embrace it, enjoy it, and yeah we’re all really looking forward to it."
Watch Czechia v Republic of Ireland from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app or listen to commentary on Inside Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
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