Courtney Brosnan has good muscle memory when it comes to play-offs.
Two years ago, in a showdown to make the World Cup, the Republic of Ireland goalkeeper brilliantly batted away Caroline Weir's early penalty for Scotland at Hampden Park. That game would ultimately be settled by a famous Amber Barrett toepoke, but it was Brosnan who kept her team in the contest during some ropey periods.
It's likely she'll be needed again when the Girls in Green square up to a dangerous Wales outfit over two Euro 2025 play-off final legs, the first of which takes place in Cardiff on Friday.
Brosnan - crowned the FAI women's international player of the year last week - is well versed in the discipline of focus.
"When I look back, you're 100% in the moment," she said as Ireland gathered in Dublin to finetune preparations.
"You don’t realise until after the game is over, until after you’ve qualified that that just happened. You make a save in the game or you make a penalty save in the game, you’re like, 'well that feels nice’, but you’re like, ‘OK we’re only 20 minutes into the game or whatever it is, we still have this amount of time to go’.
"I feel like you can see the progress we've continued to make."
"You’re not really thinking too far in advance. You’re trying to focus on what you’re doing to obviously accomplish the goal I would say."
That goal was accomplished; this one will require a real effort of guts and guile if it's to be ticked off the list.
Ireland have never made it to a Women's European Championships. Wales have never made it to a major tournament. Something has to give.
"If you look at the squad as a whole I feel like you can see the progress we’ve continued to make," Brosnan added.
"One thing in this squad specifically is, our adaptability is unbelievable in certain moments. You look at injuries, people in and out of the squad but I think there’s always that common theme of what we want to achieve and everyone gets on board to accomplish that. We’ve definitely made a load of progress in that sense I’d say.
"Of course it’s a massive game and everyone knows coming into camp how important it is. But that is exciting because that is the stuff that you dream of when you start playing football professionally and internationally."
If this tie does end up going to penalties, you'd fancy Ireland. Brosnan is an excellent shot-stopper with a healthy record in shootouts. Last month she saved three spot-kicks in Everton's League Cup victory over against Newcastle United.
The 29-year-old puts it down to preparation and anticipation, revealing: "Typically I've already watched some clips or been given some information about who is most likely to take the penalty, what their favourite side is and stuff.
"So I do that, have a think about it and then I have a little bit of a routine with touching the crossbar, walking along the line and getting myself ready for that moment. I see the kicker line up and kind of just go off a gut instinct and a bit of how they are lining, and the data you’ve been given. Then I just go from there.
"I think it’s a balance. You use the information you are given with that gut instinct or the cues you are reading from the kicker, how they are lining up and things like that."
The aftermath of the 2022 play-off win in Glasgow was dominated by reaction to the footage of some players singing Celtic Symphony by the Wolfe Tones in the dressing room. It soured a monumental moment of achievement, but Brosnan would not be drawn on whether they're motivated to enjoy an unblemished play-off glory this time around.
"Looking back, qualifying for the World Cup was a massive deal for us and it was amazing to see that we were able to accomplish that and as I said before we want to do that again," she said.
"The full focus is not on outside noise or whatever happened, it’s just focusing on qualifying for the Euros.
"Listen, there is always things you can’t control or what is going on. Our focus was on what we were able to accomplish in terms of qualifying and it is the same now. Our focus is fully on doing what we need to do on the pitch."
