Last night, the Republic of Ireland beat Israel by three goals to nil in a controversial fixture in Debrecen, Hungary, to pick up their first win of the UEFA Nations League campaign.
Ireland made light work of their opponents, with first half goals from Troy Parrott, Adam Idah and Jack Moylan proving enough to take the points, having lost their opening Nations League game against Kosovo on Thursday.
Prior to the match, it had been confirmed that the Irish team would enter the pitch at the Nagyerdei Stadion in Debrecen, Hungary, wearing black armbands, in tribute to "all lives lost in the conflict".
Meanwhile, the Republic of Ireland side bowed their heads during the Israeli national anthem, while there was no handshake between the sets of players afterwards. Neither was there a handshake between captains Daire O'Shea and Manor Solomon, who currently plays for English side, West Ham United.
This game comes amid palpable tension, which included the cancellation of the scheduled Republic of Ireland press conference and training session being postponed not long before it was due to take place.
A player meeting also took place at the team hotel, after it was revealed that Irish goalkeeper, Gavin Bazunu had expressed that he wanted to withdraw from the match day squad. Following a vote, the Irish squad decided to play the match, with FAI CEO, David Courell revealing that the re-fixed pre match press conference would take place later that afternoon.
Later that night, Bazunu wrote on social media that he had decided not to make himself available for selection as he felt "it would be wrong to participate" in the matches against Israel due to the "the atrocities in the region".
Bazunu's absence meant that defender, Jimmy Dunne was registered as the third goalkeeper in order to comply with UEFA matchday regulations. (All quotes according to RTÉ).
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