During a midweek lunchtime in Dublin's Burlington Hotel they're not much different from the other people sitting around the lobby eating. A salesman, a student, an insurance agent . . . it's much the same mix amongst the Andorrans as the locals. All that distinguishes them in fact is their brightly coloured tracksuits.
The part-timers from the tiny mountain state have grown used to the pre-match ritual of sitting around hotels over the past few years, although even in this aspect of the international game they are mere novices.
Their manager, though, is probably in familiar territory as he weighs up his options ahead of this evening's game. In addition to the traditional injuries to key players, David Rodrigoz has another difficulty - two of his regular panel, truck driver Jesus Julian Lucendo and policeman Francesc Xavier Ramirez couldn't get off work for this week's trip to Dublin.
One of those who will again be missing through injury, meanwhile, is first choice goalkeeper Koldo Alvarez, whose absence means Alfonso Sanchez will start his fifth full international tonight and 16-year-old Ferran Pol will be on the bench.
Sanchez, though, performed solidly for the underdogs in Barcelona and the 26-year-old believes that he has been improving since he conceded six goals on his international debut against Estonia.
He feels the day the team upsets a far more established nation is not far off even if their record includes just one win, against Belarus in a friendly a couple of years back. "We're getting better all the time," he says, "but, of course, it is hard for us because there are so few players for our manager to choose from."
He's not making any bold predictions about this evening, of course. While he admits to being slightly relieved that a player of Robbie Keane's calibre is not due to start, "you always expect with a country like Ireland that there will be another very good player.
"For me it is good to be out there on the same pitch with players like them. I know how lucky I am to have an opportunity that so many others would kill for but most importantly I am proud to be playing and trying to do my best for my country in the same way, I'm sure, as any of the Irish players must be when they walk out on to the pitch."
Sanchez left his native country 10 years ago in order to join up with Spanish second division club Compostela but a couple of years of youth team football later he was on the move again and he is now a company representative selling dried fruits and nuts in the Galicia region of the country.
When he set out to make a life in football Andorra didn't have a national team. Now, he is content to play part-time with his club and proud to represent his country whenever the chance arises. But does he think he has the hardest job in European football? "The hardest job?," he laughs at the thought and then, after laughing a little more, he suddenly stops and answers, "yes."
