Ireland captain Dara O’Shea is a doubt for tomorrow’s Uefa Nations League game with Israel, as his partner is giving birth. The Irish squad have gathered in Backa Topola, Serbia, for the second fixture against Israel, but head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson confirmed their captain is not among the squad.
Hallgrímsson has not definitively ruled O’Shea out of contention of tomorrow’s game, as the captain has expressed a desire to link up with the squad after the baby arrives.
“He said that I’m going to have the baby and come back, but obviously we have priorities in life and this is the one that has the highest priority,” said Hallgrímsson. “It’s your family, it’s a new life coming and hopefully that will be a good centre-back for Ireland in 16 years, whether for the women’s or the men’s team.
“We’ve just taken that situation hour by hour, but his intention is to come and be with us in the game. But like I said, we know priorities in life, and this is the biggest one.”
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Ireland are also without right wing-back James Abankwah for the game through suspension. Abankwah has, however, chosen to travel with the squad, and he took part in the prematch training session at the TSC Arena.
The game will conclude a turbulent international window for Ireland, with Hallgrímsson’s prematch press conference shut down prematurely by the FAI press officer after an Israeli journalist made an allegation against the Irish players while questioning Hallgrímsson.
Asked to reflect on the window as a whole, Hallgrímsson said the ultimate ambition is to emerge with a sense of unity and team spirit unscathed.
“Surviving this camp, coming out of it together as one, would be a massive win for me,” said Hallgrímsson. “That is coming from my heart. I think all the challenges that this team has gone through, all the criticism, I think just surviving as a group after this game, that would be a big win for me and for this group, for the association. It would be a big, big win if we go through this undamaged.
“Then if we go [from the perspective of] the coach that is judged on winning or losing games, obviously by having another three points, seven points, would be more than I could probably have asked for before the camp, knowing what was to come.
“You never know when you go into an environment like this how players will react, but that has been the most pleasing thing for me, is to see their togetherness and how they stand up for each other.
“After this, I’ve said it so many times, I think this bond of brothers will be stronger than ever. All the obstacles that this group will face in the future will be lesser than it actually is. It was just funny mentioning Dara O’Shea, our captain, comes to you just before a game and said, ‘My wife is going into labour,’ and it just didn’t seem like a problem. Yes, okay, you fly straight after the game, and it was solved in five minutes.
“It was just easy. Normally you would have been stressed and kind of anxious, but for us it was just a simple problem. This is a situation, we deal with it this way, and we move on. So I think when we look back, [we will] say, this was the moment that we grew the most. We stepped up as persons, as leaders, supporting each other, and the main thing, we stuck together, and just the power of togetherness is something that is stronger than an individual.”
