The build-up for big Wales games usually follows a well-rehearsed format.
"Wales are looking to make it to a tournament for the first time in lord knows how many years, but we've been here before."
Fans and the media alike then spend hours obsessing over all the times fate has conspired against Wales in these types of matches, playing some kind of masochistic Welsh heartbreak bingo.
READ MORE: It's Wales versus the world as President Zelensky sends stirring World Cup message to Ukraine team
"Number 78, Joe Jordan's handball! Number 94, Paul Bodin's penalty!"
Welsh football fans constantly obsess over historic misery.
Some fans have already started laying the groundwork for the latest so near and yet so far story. With the entire world supporting the heroic Ukrainians, Wales are being saddled with the role of potential party poopers, which many believe will work against Robert Page's side.
Ukraine are trying to give their compatriots the ultimate boost in their darkest hour, while also aiming to give Vladimir Putin a big middle finger. It's a beautiful fairytale and one which everybody outside of Wales and Russia hopes we won't ruin. I've already heard Wales fans say they feel strangely awkward, trying to prevent the much-loved Ukrainians from qualifying for a World Cup.
Scotland couldn't cope with that pressure, so how can a country like Wales which has such a long and storied history of disappointment in these types of matches? It's all set up for yet more heartache, another fabled failure for us to reminisce about in years to come.
It's Wales against the world, and fate is once again working against us.....only, it isn't.
In fact it's the total opposite.
Wales have had their fair share of hard luck stories down the years but during this qualification campaign, a mountain of factors have worked in their favour.
For starters, they received the perfect 2020-21 Nations League draw. Finland were decent but nothing special. Ireland and Bulgaria were both embarking on challenging transitional periods and were way out of their depths at that level.
This enabled Wales to easily top the group without even playing particularly well, thereby basically securing a play-off place before the qualifiers had even started.
During the actual qualifying group, Wales got away with poor performances away to both Belarus and Estonia, to pick up valuable wins on the road. On top of this, the fixture list was unusually kind to men in red.
They faced their main rivals for the second spot, the Czech Republic on March 30 last year, just three days after the Czechs had faced top seeds Belgium in a tiring encounter.
Their decisive final group game was against Belgium, who had already secured their spot in Qatar, enabling them to field a second-string side without many of the big names we would usually expect to see in the Belgian line-up. This was a major advantage which helped Wales pick up the point they needed to finish second and seal a home semi-final in the play-offs.
Fate was still smiling on Wales when the play-off draw saw them avoid big hitters Portugal and Italy entirely. They were handed a relatively kind home tie against Austria in the semis and, all-importantly, a home tie in the final too should they beat the Austrians.
Two Gareth Bale strikes saw Wales clinch a deserved win in the semi-final but instead of having a final five days later, they would have to wait until this weekend because the war in Ukraine prevented the other semi-final from taking place.
This was a real blessing because it enabled Wales to enter this huge clash with their biggest names fully rested. It also gave players like Kieffer Moore and Danny Ward a chance to recover from injuries which kept them out of the Austria clash.
Meanwhile their opponents, who have the obvious disadvantage of a major conflict in their homeland, have just four days to recover between the semi-final and the final. Considering 16 members of the Ukrainian squad haven't played competitive football since the invasion began, that could have quite an impact on the match.
Things which have gone against Wales in the past like unkind draws, injury crises and simple bad luck during key games haven’t had a big impact on this campaign.
Looking specifically at tomorrow's fixture, home advantage is a major coup considering Wales have lost just once at the Cardiff City Stadium since October 2017.
While Ukraine have a very quick turnaround between games, most of Wales's likely starters sat out the 2-1 Nations League defeat in Poland and Rob Page now probably has more players to choose from than at any point during his tenure.
Ukraine will obviously have the sympathy and support of the wider football supporting community, but in Cardiff tomorrow, everything is in Wales's favour.
They have the adoring crowd painting the stadium red, the practically fully fit squad and more than enough preparation time. The mood around the camp seems incredibly positive and there's a very good reason for that; Wales are in a fantastic position going into arguably the biggest international game ever played on Welsh soil.
It obviously won't be easy. Ukraine were phenomenal against Scotland and played some astonishing football considering all the obstacles thrown in their way. They have superb players like Zinchenko, Yarmolenko and Yaremchuk who will be very difficult to keep quiet.
They also don't get beaten very often. They didn't lose a single match in a World Cup qualifying group which included world champions France.
Even with all of Wales's advantages, this will still be a tight, nervy and incredibly hard-fought game but there is no good reason for this to become another "what if" moment for Welsh football.
This is an incredible opportunity for Wales and we have to approach it positively, with determination and belief.
Forget everything that's gone on in the past and forget the geopolitical context surrounding this match. This is 90 minutes in Cardiff, in front of a 30,000-strong Red Wall, against a talented and ultra-motivated but eminently beatable side.
There are no excuses, this is the golden opportunity we’ve waited decades to witness. Let’s make the most of it!
