Ireland squad yet to decide on whether to play second Israel match

Heimir Hallgrímsson has said the Republic of Ireland players will play the Nations League game against Austria on Thursday at the Aviva Stadium before deciding if they will fulfil their second match against Israel in Serbia on Sunday.Ireland beat Israel 3-0 at the Nagyerdei Stadium in Debrecen last Sunday after taking a squad vote to decide whether they should fulfil the fixture.“We haven’t decided what we will do [on Sunday],” said Hallgrímsson. “We will give the players a day off to go home and share a day with their friends, family and loved ones, and then we’ll come back and prepare for the Austria game. Then we will discuss the next one.”Gavin Bazunu, who informed Hallgrímsson he was not willing to participate in the games against Israel, is available for selection against Austria but he will not travel with the squad to Bačka Topola on Friday morning. READ MOREBazunu pulled out of the first Israel game last Saturday morning, which led to the remaining 22 Irish players debating for four hours before they voted in favour of going ahead with the tie.David Courell, the association’s chief executive, said the player vote returned a “significant majority” to fulfil the fixture. The anonymous vote is believed to have been 14-8 in favour of playing, although Bazunu did not vote. “We are all uncomfortable,” Hallgrímsson said. ”We have different opinions and we should allow people to have different opinions. There is no one opinion that is right or wrong. We have different players in the squad that come from different backgrounds so we need to be careful that everyone has a say in decisions.“But it is tough. It is just like politics where some parties just can’t work together.[ ‘We have a country 10 times better than theirs’: Israel captain criticises Ireland after 3-0 defeatOpens in new window ]“I hope you see the tough times the players have come through, and they have come out as winners because they want to represent their country. That is their desire. I hope everybody sees that.”Hallgrímsson was asked if the past week has affected his enthusiasm to continue as the Ireland manager up to Euro 2028.[ Ireland beat Israel in a bleak farce that leaves everyone feeling betrayedOpens in new window ]“It has definitely been testing physiologically,” he said. “This is not something you can take a coaching or leadership course in. You cannot manufacture a situation like this.“Sometimes in team building the coaches make it ‘us against the world.’ It is kind of like that for the players. When they go through this the bond between them will become stronger. All the problems in the future will seem lesser.“This could have gone either way, but we got through it.”