One of the threads of hope we will hang on to tomorrow is that playing against a slightly weakened Italy side could help us qualify for the last-16.
With the Azzurri already assured of top spot in Group E and already through to the Euro 2016 first knockout round with a game to spare, Ireland could benefit from changes Antonio Conte might apply to his starting team.
Of course, whatever team he does put out would still be quite daunting on paper given the overall talent at their disposal - even if it is far from a vintage squad compared to previous years.
One player who might be rested is 2006 World Cup winner Daniele De Rossi (32), who has managed to become key for the national team again, sitting in front of the back-three.
The Roma legend idolises Ireland assistant manager Roy Keane - an admiration reciprocated by the Manchester United legend - as Serie A football writer James Horncastle told Off The Ball.
"He was talking about that earlier this year, that the player he grew up with a lot of respect for was Roy Keane, that he grew up and still does listen to music out of Manchester like Oasis and it's something that he's modeled his game on," he said of a player who loves to wear the No 16 shirt because of Keane.
"De Rossi himself is a great story because he'd been left out of the squad in the last couple of April friendlies and for the first time in his career, really thought he wasn't going to get in there - because he wasn't even getting into the Roma team. And this is someone who cares so much about his country. He put everything into getting fit again, really impressing Conte in the pre-training camp whilst the Juventus and Milan players were not with Italy. They were preparing for the Coppa Italia final and he basically took Thiago Motta's place off him and this is someone who if you peel away his skin, you would see a blue shirt."
Off the Ball is live from Lille tonight from 7pm with best of build-up and reaction as Ireland get set for a crucial game against Italy
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