The Republic of Ireland were pegged back to a draw by Israel in another tetchy meeting between the sides, this time played without fans at TSC Arena in Backa Topola, Serbia.
Troy Parrott’s first-half penalty was cancelled out after the break in the Group B3 game. Parrott, who has now scored 10 times in his last seven competitive internationals, fired the Republic in front from the spot in the 39th minute before Dor Peretz drew the sides level two minutes after the restart.
Ireland players again wore black armbands and bowed their heads during the Israeli national anthem before the teams’ second Nations League meeting on Sunday. The Israeli players also wore black armbands in memory of the people killed in the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023.
Ireland’s goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher stepped in as captain for Dara O’Shea – who was excused to be with his wife for the birth of their child – and he pointedly avoided shaking hands with Israel captain Peretz, despite completing the usual pre-match formality with the referee and one of his assistants.
Kelleher repeated O’Shea’s actions before the first match in Debrecen, Hungary last week, when O’Shea declined to shake Israel captain Manor Solomon’s hand. Ireland went on to win that game 3-0 through three first-half goals. Solomon was dropped to the bench for yesterday’s match. Israel forward Sayed Abu Farchi was back in the squad after serving a suspension for getting sent off following his goal celebration during Israel’s 3-1 defeat to Austria last month.
Finn Azaz, whose mother has Israeli heritage, was among the Irish substitutes after playing from the start against Austria on Thursday.
The Republic had started to find some fluidity when Jimmy Dunne won a penalty, after arriving at the post to try tucking home a rebound from an earlier saved Parrott effort.
The Israel goalkeeper Assaf Tzur scrambled to smother the ball, and Dunne was brought down under the challenge of Peretz. The Republic were awarded the penalty after a lengthy VAR check.
Peretz levelled the scoring two minutes after the restart. An Oscar Gloukh effort took a favourable deflection off Liam Scales and into the path of the acting Israel captain, who gave Kelleher no chance with a low finish.
Sunday’s game was initially supposed to be played in Dublin, but the Football Association of Ireland moved the game to a neutral venue for “operational reasons” in June following widespread calls for a boycott in protest of Israel’s actions in Gaza. The FAI said the game would be played with no fans present.
It followed the FAI’s own motion the previous November calling on Uefa to ban Israel from club and international competitions.
The difficult atmosphere between the sides spilled over during a clash as the sides entered the tunnel at half-time. Officials then broke up a second altercation in three minutes of added time, and there were more heated words exchanged after the final whistle.
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