Ireland football coach urges players to ‘win this war’ against Israel

Ireland are set to play Israel in home and away Nations League matches, but there has been pressure to boycott games.Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson has challenged his players to “win this war” against Israel when the teams meet in the Nations League amid renewed protests in the Irish parliament about the games.The Ireland" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="123590" data-entity-type="organization">Football Association of Ireland has been under pressure to boycott the two matches, including a home fixture in Dublin on October 4.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Neymar injury threatens Brazil forward’s World Cup as scans needed on calflist 2 of 4Messi’s GOAT statue in India to be removed over safety concernslist 3 of 4‘Why not us?’: Does the US really have a chance of lifting the World Cup?list 4 of 4FIFA subpoenaed by New York, New Jersey in World Cup ticket investigationend of listSeveral pro-Palestinian Irish politicians and football figures have urged the federation to withdraw from the fixtures over Israel’s conduct during its genocidal war on Gaza.The FAI passed a motion in November requesting that UEFA immediately suspend Israel from international competition, but received no support from European football’s governing body.There were new protests at the Dail – the Irish parliament – on Wednesday over the fixtures.In October, Icelandic boss Hallgrimsson was among those calling for Israel to be banned from international football competition.The 58-year-old, speaking ahead of a friendly game against Qatar in Dublin, said: “I’ve already expressed my opinion on this matter, you don’t need to repeat that one.“But from a footballing perspective – it’s an obstacle I don’t like, and it’s unfair for the players to be in this position and us to be in this position – but from a footballing perspective, I don’t like us to be the bad guys. We are not the bad guys here.”He added: “I think the best answer for us is just to win this game, to win this war against them [Israel]. That would be a perfect answer from my end.“Other decisions are not made by us, but all the players would like to represent the country and do well for them, no matter who is the opponent.”