What pleases us today, is that football has won. The separation between football and politics must be maintained; any other approach spells chaos and a dangerous slide in a slippery slope, leading to disastrous consequences for the game we all love. The Irish Football Association and the national team players did the right thing by recognizing this —even if it took a bit longer then it should. Yet, its Better late than never.
The ones who have certainly lost today are those who wanted to intimidate, to separate and to turn the football pitch into a political arena. UEFA, the IFA and the
@IrelandFootball stood strong together to prevent it.
As the host association, we are proud that the opening whistle will blow tomorrow at 20:45, and may the better team win on the field of play. Hoping we'll be on the winning side of Corse, and Please don't hold it against us.
Flags will be raised, anthems will be played, and the players and coaches of both teams will have the opportunity to shake hands and respect each other. Defiantly from our side, as always. Although the phrase doesn't originate in Hebrew, we are still happy to say: Let's play ball!