Football and politics are inseparable in the modern world, no matter how many people wish they were not.
On Saturday night the question had been whether Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side would take to the field in Hungary at all.
As the nominal home side, Israel had been allowed a small delegation of fans, about 150, who were doing their best to be excitable.
Hallgrimsson therefore picked a team with only one reserve keeper and also dropped the forward Finn Azaz to the bench in one of five changes to the team that lost meekly to Kosovo.
A 10-minute passage of pressure was all they were able to muster, however, and Idah almost made it 4-0 at the end of it, but the Swansea striker put his header on to the roof of the net.
5 sentences from our version of the report,
chosen to cover it. Nothing here is written; every line is in the article below.
How
Headline check
Headline as published: Republic of Ireland put controversy aside to earn impressive win over Israel
One of the two things this headline claims did not turn up in the report.
“Republic” is named in the headline. We could not find it in the report.
Figures, names and quoted words in the headline, looked for in the report itself — not in the summary above. Names are matched as they are spelled, so a report that says “New South Wales” where the headline says “NSW” is queried here when it should not be. How this is checked
The article, shortened and in plain language
Football and politics are inseparable in the modern world, no matter how many people wish they were not. After a week in which the issue of Irish support for the people of Gaza had turned this fixture into a battle of conscience, the outcome of this underwhelming match felt inconsequential.
In the end the result was indeed a walkover, just not because of a boycott. On Saturday night the question had been whether Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side would take to the field in Hungary at all. Strong and assertive from the off, their forwards each scored a goal in the first half to settle the contest, with plenty of symbolic action to remind those back home of their feelings.
In a way the atmosphere in Debrecen was reminiscent of a match played during Covid. As the nominal home side, Israel had been allowed a small delegation of fans, about 150, who were doing their best to be excitable.
The game had come close to being abandoned on Saturday, when the goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu made himself unavailable for selection, his decision prompting exchanges among players and management.
Hallgrimsson therefore picked a team with only one reserve keeper and also dropped the forward Finn Azaz to the bench in one of five changes to the team that lost meekly to Kosovo.
After all the soul-searching, however, Ireland decided the contest in only 11 first-half minutes.
A 10-minute passage of pressure was all they were able to muster, however, and Idah almost made it 4-0 at the end of it, but the Swansea striker put his header on to the roof of the net.
Shortened to 1 minute
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