The size of the Irish crowd in the Stade de France for the last meeting between France and the Republic has attained such legendary status that the number grows with every retelling.
Irish pockets are lighter now than they were in 2004, the defeat on Saturday in Dublin may have dimmed some self-belief, and veteran fans know Ireland rarely win vital away matches, but hope has trumped experience for the thousands of Irish fans who are arriving in the French capital for tonight's World Cup playoff second leg.
Sports daily L'Équipehas speculated that up to 15,000 Irish might find their way into the stadium tonight, despite the French Football Federation having done its best to keep the Irish attendance at half that figure.
"What would annoy me the most would be the sight of the Stade de France totally green," Jean-Pierre Escalettes, the president of the federation, has said, before admitting that for all his efforts to prevent too many tickets falling into Irish hands "I'm convinced that the Irish have found a few French friends to go and buy them tickets".
As balloons and bunting were being positioned in the Irish pub she manages on Boulevard Montmartre yesterday afternoon, Gail Mannion reckoned that she could have more than twice her pub's capacity to deal with tonight.
"The last time, there were more than 1,000 people in here, but it was a weekend game and everyone had loads of money that time," she said. "It was all €50 and €100 notes - we were running out of 10s and 20s. If it's even half as busy as it was that year it'll be crazy."
Vincent Sutton, who travelled with three friends from Crumlin in Dublin, had fond memories of the team's last visit to the Stade de France.
"I remember the Marseillaisecame on and the whole stadium erupted, with the Irish fans humming along with it. Twenty thousand of us. The French were just looking around. Couldn't believe it. Amazing. Never seen anything like it in my life."
Sutton and his friends Paul, Ciarán and Brian have been travelling to Irish matches for more than 20 years. They booked €65 return air tickets to Frankfurt even before the playoff draw was made. They gambled that Ireland would play away in the second leg and that they could find an onward flight to Lisbon, Athens, Paris or wherever else for a fraction of the cost of a direct flight.
The gamble paid off and, after all that effort, they're not about to relinquish their optimism just yet. "You never know, do you?" Sutton remarked. "We have to get a goal early doors - and we live in hope."
