Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson has stated that the second match against Israel on Sunday "will not be friendly", anticipating a match played without spectators in the Serbian town of Bačka Topa.
The Irish manager described the entire situation as "weird".
Israeli captain Manor Solomon was even more direct. "We have a country 10 times better than theirs," said Solomon, adding: "We clearly hate them. We don't love them." His comments further intensified the atmosphere ahead of the clash, which was originally due to be an Irish home fixture but has been moved to the TSC Arena in Bačka Topa, some 100 miles north of Belgrade.
Hallgrimsson admitted that he knows "absolutely nothing" about the town where the match will take place. He highlighted that the experience would be significantly different from the norm, noting that it is completely different to play in front of 45,000 or 50,000 fans, and then in an empty stadium. He described the schedule of four matches as strange, challenging, and testing.
The Republic of Ireland played out a 2-2 draw with Austria in Dublin on Thursday, with Troy Parrott scoring two goals in the first half. The first half was briefly interrupted by a protest involving tennis balls and a pitch invasion. The campaign 'Stop The Game', organised by the group Irish Sport for Palestine, had staged protests outside the Aviva Stadium prior to the match with Austria. Hallgrimsson said he did not know what to expect from the atmosphere in the stadium.
The vote by the Republic of Ireland players on whether to play the match passed with a "significant majority", according to FAI chief executive David Courell.
The Republic of Ireland did not participate in pre-match formalities and bowed their heads during the Israeli national anthem in Debrecen, where Israel won 3-0.
