Heimir Hallgrímsson battles to get the ball on the ground and return focus to Kosovo clash

“The Taoiseach Micheál Martin has defended you and your comments while at the United Nations.” So began the first question at Wednesday’s press conference with Heimir Hallgrímsson in Pristina. Fair to say it’s a departure from the standard opening gambit at these controlled media interactions. “So, Heimir ... any knocks?” Sunday’s game against Israel isn’t so much casting a shadow on Ireland’s preparations to face Kosovo as it is entirely blotting out the sun. Hallgrímsson responded to the first question with a weary thanks for all of the support he has received, adding that it was not his finest moment of leadership to create headlines that distracted from the football task at hand. Such is the radioactivity of these games against Israel, it is impossible not to generate these headlines. While standing up for Hallgrímsson when speaking with reporters outside the UN, the Taoiseach said that “Israel can’t keep denying what the world knows and what the world understands”, quoting UN secretary general António Guterres’s earlier comments before the general assembly that he “has never in his lifetime seen the level and scale of death and destruction” as he has seen in Gaza. In saying this, the Taoiseach alighted on the reality that language itself has become a theatre of conflict in the wider war. READ MOREIsrael continues to fiercely reject the opinion of an independent UN commission that it has perpetrated genocide in Gaza, and Hallgrímsson’s use of the word in a press conference last week made him a target for a blistering condemnation, in this instance from Israel’s football association. It is Hallgrímsson’s misfortune to find himself as a headline act on the latest stage for these bitter contentions. Dara O'Shea and Heimir Hallgrímsson at the Republic of Ireland press conference in Fadil Vokrri Stadium. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho Still, it’s good for Hallgrímsson that he has the Taoiseach out there batting for him at the United Nations, because his employers are retaining their monastic silence. The FAI made a great deal of their fronting up last week, rolling out director of football John Martin and chief executive David Courell to make it clear that the responsibility for fulfilling these games rests with them. Conspicuous in his absence from this PR choreography was FAI president Paul Cooke, who we are told is leading lobbying efforts at Uefa level to have Israel suspended from Uefa competition. There are misgivings among some delegates of the FAI’s general assembly as to the strength of these lobbying efforts. When we approached Cooke at the Irish team training to request an interview, he replied with a “no comment”, and when he was asked whether he would speak to the media at all this week, Cooke replied: “Unlikely.”With Nathan Collins and Séamus Coleman absent, Dara O’Shea has been handed the dubious honour of captaining Ireland for the fortnight ahead, and so his first obligation was to appear alongside Hallgrímsson at Wednesday’s press conference. In doing so, O’Shea became the first Irish player to speak all week. The players are under pressure from some sections of the Irish public to boycott the games, and protesters gave voice to these opinions outside the Irish team hotel in Castleknock on Monday. [ Gavin Cooney: Why I won’t be joining media boycott of Ireland’s games against IsraelOpens in new window ]When the Irish team were the nation’s darlings in advance of the World Cup playoff in March, the only interruptions at the team hotel were made by fans hunting autographs and selfies. Back then, one fan followed O’Shea into the hotel lobby bathroom to ask him for a picture. The mood change is dramatic. O’Shea spoke with poise at the press conference in Fadil Vokrri Stadium, explaining that the players are doing their best to ignore the “noise” around the game by trying to stay off social media and set their sights on Kosovo. He said he will gather the players on Friday to discuss their views on the Israel game, and from there they will decide whether to stage a protest before kick-off on Sunday. An eleventh-hour boycott is not on the players’ agenda. “Obviously, the decision was made by the FAI, Uefa and the Government for the game to be played,” said O’Shea. “For us as players, that’s not our decision.” Republic of Ireland captain Dara O'Shea and Heimir Hallgrímsson. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho Kosovan journalists were given ample opportunity to ask questions of Hallgrímsson – unusually for an FAI press conference, every question and answer was translated for the benefit of the local press pack, where the precedent is to translate only some of the early questions – and that they asked about football came as a relief to Hallgrímsson. The Ireland manager sang his opponents’ praises, hailing their rise to League B of the Nations League just a decade after their acceptance into Uefa, accentuating the threat of Fenerbahçe striker Vedat Muriqi. Amid the focus on Israel, the basic fact of Ireland’s challenge in Pristina has been neglected. Playing for Mallorca, Muriqi finished second only to Kylian Mbappé in La Liga’s goalscoring table last season, while Kosovo are backboned by a trio of talented players all currently at Hoffenheim: defender Albian Hajdari, midfielder Leon Avdullahu, and forward Fisnik Asllani. To add to this, winger Edon Zhegrova has lately found scoring form at Juventus, having gone 658 days without a goal. Hallgrímsson was also concerned at the stickiness of the pitch on which Ireland trained on Wednesday. Given Ireland are without Collins, Coleman, Josh Cullen, Bosun Lawal and Evan Ferguson, if you allow yourself to focus on the football, you’ll be quickly confronted by a gnawing sense that Kosovo are capable of further souring the Irish mood before Sunday’s night of rancour and contention.