Shane Duffy believes Ireland are really moving now under Stephen Kenny - and gives two examples from Thursday night to illustrate that.
Firstly, a moment from the action at the Aviva Stadium, one that he can play back forever to the grandkids.
In the 23rd minute, the big centre-back found himself under pressure from Cristiano Ronaldo. He committed to pulling off a drag back that fooled the Portugal star.
"I think it was a shank," Duffy joked.
In fact it was a telling snapshot of how far the Brighton defender has come after such a difficult time in a personal and professional capacity last season.
"Yeah maybe, maybe I play my best when I'm not really thinking and I'm just doing stuff," he reflected.
"But I was in a tight situation and I just tried it. And maybe a year ago I wouldn't have done that."
The second occurred after the game, when the players had returned to the home dressing-room having secured a draw against the World Cup qualifying group favourites.
And the mood there? "It wasn't ecstatic," Duffy admitted. "Music wasn't blaring.
"It shows you how far we've come, we're a little bit disappointed against a really good team and kept them to limited chances."
Ireland have not lost since Ronaldo scored twice late on in Portugal nine weeks ago and, if they finish their campaign with a win in Luxembourg on Sunday, they will leapfrog their opponents to finish third.
“I think the performances were there, the results maybe didn’t reflect that," argued Duffy. "It took a bit of confidence away.
"Maybe we got a few results and then built confidence.
"The last four or five games especially we've taken a bigger step forward - especially with the way we set up tonight against one of the best teams in the world.
"We went head to head with them and didn't fear them, we didn't sit off and it was a sign of confidence in the way we are playing.
"We’ve been knocking on the door. We’ve gotten to know each other better and build relationships. That’s what we're doing on the pitch and it’s showing.
"We want to finish the group as strong as we can and that would be beating Luxembourg and finishing above them, and that's the aim, that's what we'll try to do.”
For the 29-year-old, it all adds up to a definitive answer on Kenny's future - basically, sign him up again.
“I love it, I think Stephen’s brilliant," he said. "He’s had a tough start with the whole Covid situation and players dropping out, and results not going our way.
"But if you don’t think we are going in a positive way, I think you are writing the wrong stuff. I think we are all going in the right direction.
"The fans are excited and for me we love playing under him. We are all fighting for him, even though it was a hard situation at the start.
"But we are fighting and that’s a sign of players playing for a manager. Everyone is happy in the dressing room.”
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