Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson says “tough times” helped to find “leaders” in his squad.
His team won 3-nil against Israel in a highly controversial Nations League fixture in Hungary last night.
The FAI had been urged to withdraw in protest against the ongoing conflict in Gaza, and goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu opted out of the squad for the game.
Hallgrimsson says it’s “untrue” that the goalkeeper was confronted by other players about his decision
Bazunu is set to return for Thursday’s match against Austria in Dublin and Hallgrimsson admits he thought the match with Israel wouldn’t go ahead of Saturday during a series of meetings with the players before they voted to proceed.
===
The FAI’s President Paul Cooke admits the association are still unaware of what potential sanctions they could have faced for not fulfilling the fixture.
Cooke said UEFA had not made any threats of punishments beyond awarding Israel a 3-nil win should Ireland have opted not to play.
He added that he felt the FAI handled the week “quite well” and that the players are a “credit to the nation”.
