It seems incongruous but tonight in Brussels, a grey city suffocating in red tape, there is the potential for great and memorable green drama. That or a sea of salty tears. Such are the possibilities when Ireland play Belgium for the right to advance to the World Cup finals in France next summer.
Meanwhile, in Lansdowne Road, the President, Mrs McAleese, makes her first public outing on an occasion which holds out even less hope. The Irish rugby team play New Zealand's All Blacks in a formality which promises to be less of a match and more of a spread betting chance. Any takers on the All Blacks scoring more than 100?
The permutations in Brussels are more tantalising, however. With the first leg in Dublin having been tied at a goal apiece, and with goals scored away from home having double their value in the event of a draw, the Belgian team has the luxury of knowing that a scoreless draw tonight will be enough for them.
There is, however, solace in the thought that any draw involving more than two goals will see Ireland home. That or a clear win.
In the event of the teams drawing with a goal each, the game will go to extra time and the so-called "Golden Goal" rule will come into play - the first team to score wins. If, after 30 minutes of extra time, neither side has scored, the tie goes to penalties.
Yet when the rule books are put away, tonight's game boils down to a weakened Irish team needing a heroic and unlikely result against a superior Belgian side.
Some 10,000 Irish fans have made the trip, the greatest soccer exodus since the Charlton era. They speak in terms of hope rather than defiance, their pilgrimage is expected to be a solemn reaffirmation of the faith rather than a celebration. In short, there shall be much beer and much crying into it.
They have been speaking during the past few days of the great games, those occasions in the last 10 years when the Irish team were written off as long odds outsiders. With several key players in sick bay, and with some heroes just one step ahead of the catchers from the retirement home, Ireland have seldom had their backs so firmly pressed against the wall.
The Irish side are billeted some 20 kilometres from the city centre. The mood is determinedly upbeat, as it has to be on these occasions.
Mick McCarthy and four of his players made the trip into Brussels yesterday morning for a happy, good vibes press conference. McCarthy will not name his team until an hour before the game. "What happened in Dublin is over and done with," he told journalists.
Then the man whose detractors call him "Son of Jack" and the players returned to their movie film In the Name of the Father, for the afternoon.
"What sort of a role will pride and passion play?" asked a journalist as they left. "I don't know," said McCarthy, "because we have never lacked pride and passion."
Pride and passion and the romance of sport. Today in Brussels and Dublin, hope resides in those things.