Ken Early: At the end, Ireland’s players just wanted to get out of the nightmare

It doesn’t happen that often in football that you have to play a match against an opponent you beat 3-0 only last week. The exception is two-legged cup ties, when the aggregate score is a factor conditioning the way the second game is played.The aggregate score was not a factor in Ireland v Israel II, which was not a second leg or even really a return fixture but a pure rematch. Above all it was a chance for the Israeli team that had been demolished in Debrecen to redeem themselves after a week in which they had been battered by the Israeli media and public. You got the impression they would gladly accept relegation from League B in exchange for revenge against Ireland.Actually, only five of the Israeli XI that lost the first game 3-0 started in Backa Topola. They had clearly resolved to be much more solid defensively this time, and the first quarter of the game was mainly Ireland passing the ball around the perimeter of the Israeli block, too slowly to open up any space.Last time out Ireland had repeatedly skewered Israel with quick passes through the centre, but here they struggled to make that happen. They also struggled to harness the direct running of Jack Moylan, a live wire in Debrecen but peripheral here.READ MOREThe assured passing of Dara O’Shea was missed at the back, likewise the craft in midfield of Finn Azaz, who was there on the bench but did not play. Jayson Molumby took Azaz’s place in central midfield, and it soon became apparent that Israel had targeted him for special treatment.When Dor Peretz fouled Molumby 30 yards from Israel’s goal it was the fifth foul the Irish midfielder had suffered in 39 minutes. It looked as though the Israelis were trying to get a reaction out of him and Molumby has been known to respond to provocation. He kept getting up and grinning but as the fouls kept coming the grin was developing a slightly wild-eyed, Private Pyle-like edge.But this foul was worth taking. As Ryan Manning stood over the ball, Israel were preparing for either a shot or cross to the far post. Somehow they left Troy Parrott standing completely unmarked in the D. Manning simply rolled a pass to the Irish centre forward, whose quick but weak shot was parried by Israel goalkeeper Assaf Tzur. Jimmy Dunne was first to the loose ball and was brought down by the scrambling Israeli defenders.Troy Parrott fires Ireland into the lead against Israel from the penalty spot. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho Ireland screamed for the penalty – they have got better at these kinds of appeals – and after a VAR review the Spanish referee gave it. Parrott nailed it into the bottom corner for his 10th goal in his last seven competitive internationals.A scuffle at the entrance to the tunnel at half-time – sparked by the allegation that an Israeli player had spat at an Irish coach – was defused by the Spanish referee, calling out in a soothing tone: “Be clever guys. Be clever.”But there was nothing clever about the way Ireland conceded the equaliser. Conor Coventry slipped as he tried to pass upfield and Israel counterattacked. Oscar Gloukh’s shot struck Liam Scales and the deflection just killed the ball perfectly for the lurking Dor Peretz, who beat Caoimhín Kelleher from close range.Israel twice struck the outside of Kelleher’s post and looked the slightly more dangerous side in a dire second half. Ireland looked tired and out of ideas, as though the exertions of the last two weeks were catching up with them. The obvious move from the tactical point of view was to introduce Azaz to bring some creativity and direction to Ireland’s play in the centre, but the Irish staff evidently felt that was impossible.By not picking Azaz to start they had evaded the question of whether he would bow his head for the Israeli anthem along with his team-mates, but would he wear the black armband for the dead of the Gaza conflict, while the Israelis wore their own black armband to mark the third anniversary of October 7th?Azaz would be targeted for criticism no matter what he did, and the Irish staff decided the game was not worth forcing him into that situation. Instead Chiedozie Ogbene, Rocco Vata, Joel Bagan and Bosun Lawal came on and only Ogbene had any impact on the game, forcing a save from Tzur late on. Jason Knight missed Ireland’s best chance in the 89th minute, mistiming a header at the far post. He had battled gamely in the right wing-back role but James Abankwah has looked more comfortable, and much more imposing, in that position.There was further aggressive posturing after the final whistle. The Israelis were clearly happier with the 1-1 than Ireland, who just wanted to get off the pitch, on to their aeroplane and out of this nightmare at last. The atmosphere of paranoia and enmity in which these games have played out is unprecedented in their international careers.Finn Azaz did not play in Ireland's draw with Israel. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho On Saturday afternoon two Israeli journalists had asked Heimir Hallgrímsson about the Flydubai attempted hijacking and the Israeli claim – immediately and forcefully denied by the FAI – that Irish players had called Israeli opponents “monkeys”. On Sunday the two were told that they had been banned from the postmatch press conferences, a decision apparently taken at the highest level in Uefa.They had done more than their fair share to stoke up the bad feeling that surrounded these games. In Israel’s press conference on Saturday, Irish journalists had asked whether it would not just be better to make sure these two countries didn’t have to play each other again.[ Austria pull off another late show to stay top of Group B3Opens in new window ]“Coach, what do you think of that idea that maybe it’s better for everybody if there’s, like, an amicable divorce,” the last question went. “If we say to each other, we had a nice two games but ... let’s not do this again.”The question provoked laughter that eased the tension in the room, but in the end the answer from the Israelis was no, there can be no question of divorce, we must stay together for the sake of the children.On Thursday the presidents and general secretaries of Uefa’s member FAs head to Berlin for their annual meet-up. The rules for the next set of qualifiers have not yet been finalised. The FAI’s delegation would have a chance to raise the matter again and see whether Uefa’s thinking has evolved.But it sounds as though any such suggestion will be firmly opposed on the Israeli side. For Uefa to agree to keep Ireland and Israel apart because Ireland no longer wants to play them looks to Israel like a slippery slope towards exclusion.