Ireland players make protest against Israel by lowering heads during national anthem

Ireland players lowered their heads during the Israel national anthem after the contentious Nations League match went ahead on Sunday.

The Irish team wore black armbands, with the fixture attracting bitter opposition in Ireland over Israel’s actions in Gaza.

The Irish players were seen looking down at the turf and also held their hands behind their backs during the pre-match anthem, and Irish captain Dara O’Shea approached the center of the field for the pre-match talk with his hands still firmly clasped behind his back.

O’Shea shook hands with the referee and his assistants but there was no attempt to shake the hand of Israel captain Manor Solomon. While Irish national broadcaster RTE opted for reduced coverage.

Reserve goalkeeper Gavin Bazuno decided Saturday to boycott both of Ireland’s games against Israel because of what he said was his “personal belief that the killing of innocent people is wrong.”

There was a small group of Israeli fans in the otherwise almost-empty stadium in Debrecen, Hungary, but an even smaller group of around 10 people without colors were celebrating when Troy Parrott broke the deadlock in the 13th minute.

There weren’t supposed to be any Irish fans present. Some Ireland supporters who managed to get tickets through the Israeli soccer federation told Irish broadcaster RTÉ that those had been canceled Saturday night.

Adam Idah made it 2-0 three minutes after Parrott’s opener and Jack Moylan got the third goal in the 25th.

It was 3-0 at halftime, but Ireland needed goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher at his best to deny Israel after the break, and tempers became frayed around the hour mark after a clash between Idah and Raz Shlomo.

Both players were booked by German referee Harm Osmers.Israel forward Sayed Abu Farchi was suspended for the game after his sending off following his goal-celebration in Thursday’s 3-1 loss to Austria.Ireland and Israel meet again on Oct. 4 in Ireland’s “home” game in Backa Topola, Serbia.

AP contributed to this report.

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