Football and politics are inseparable in the modern world, no matter how many people wish that weren’t true. But whether the beautiful game can ease the ills of our age is another matter. 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 ultimately 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. If they did, would their heads be in the game? It turned out that a week of internal angst had been enough to produce collective resolve among the Irish squad, or at least those selected to play. 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.
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