![\"25](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/00247341-614.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\nRepublic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson has again reiterated his view that will accept any decision taken by the footballing authorities as to where Ireland’s home Nations League game against Israel will be played.<\/p>\n
This last week has seen increased pressure on the FAI from fans and player attitudes to consider moving the fixture, scheduled for 4 October, out of Ireland.<\/p>\n
It is understood that a board meeting of the FAI will take place to discuss options around the staging of the game against the Middle Eastern state.<\/p>\n
Hallgrimsson, who is in Montreal preparing his side for the friendly clash with World Cup co-hosts Canada, was asked for his opinion in light of the FAI board convening.<\/p>\n
“My opinion basically has no value in this,” he told the assembled press.<\/p>\n
“Would I like to play at home against an opponent in the Aviva? Yes. Would I like to play in front of our fans? Yes. That’s just how I feel. It’s not my decision to make. We will respect the decision taken by the higher footballing authorities.<\/p>\n
“We all have different opinions on these matters and all have different solutions.”<\/p>\n
As to matters on the pitch, the Irish boss said that some of the young guns in the squad could see action against the Canadians.<\/p>\n
Shamrock Rovers duo Matt Healy (below) and Josh O’Dwyer are amongst the new faces in the set-up.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rovers midfielder Healy receives his first senior international call-up following an impressive run of form for the League of Ireland champions this season. Joining him is 16-year-old O’Dwyer, who has been invited into the senior environment as a training player.<\/p>\n
Recognised as a high-potential talent within the pathway, O’Dwyer will gain valuable experience with the senior squad in Montreal before linking up with the Ireland Under-17s for their international window next week.<\/p>\n
Kian Leavy also comes into the squad for his first senior international call-up after impressing for St. Pat’s this season while also featuring for Ireland\u2019s U21s.<\/p>\n
“A week of training is quite a lot in how we are working so we are not afraid of playing some of the players,” Hallgr\u00edmsson remarked.<\/p>\n
“The difference from this game and Qatar is that we’ve had the younger guys longer in training, on meetings, and on the sessions to try and understand what we want. We would have been a little scared of doing it against Qatar.”<\/p>\n
Canada, coached by former Leeds United manager, Jesse Marsch are, according to Hallgr\u00edmsson “a good, energetic squad, good coach and are 30-plus seeds above us in the FIFA rankings. Hosting or not hosting, they would have been in the World Cup.”<\/p>\n
That said, Ireland will go out to “win” the game, with the manager adding: “That’s how we approach every match. Obviously our approach would be different in every game, given the players we have and the opponents we are playing. We think we have what it takes to win.<\/p>\n
“I know it’s big task and they want to prove themselves to their coach that they should be starters in their first World Cup match. This is a farewell for them into that tournament so there will be a big crowd supporting them. It is a challenge for us definitely, but we think we have what it takes to get a result.”<\/p>\n
Watch Canada v Republic of Ireland in the early hours of Saturday morning (12.15am) on RT\u00c92 and RT\u00c9 Player. Follow our live blog on RT\u00c9.ie\/sport and RT\u00c9 News app<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson has again reiterated his view that will accept any decision taken by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":484020,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-484019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}