Ogbene urges Ireland to shut out pressure ahead of Israel clash

Republic of Ireland winger Chiedozie Ogbene has urged that the squad be left to work in isolation, allowing them to concentrate on the remaining Nations League fixtures after an exhausting week that concluded with a 1‑0 opening‑night defeat to Kosovo, the winning goal arriving in the 83rd minute from Vedat Muriqi.

Kosovo defeat

The solitary goal from Vedat ‘the Pirate’ Muriqi in the 83rd minute secured three points for the home side, leaving Ireland without a point on the opening night of Group 3. While Ireland struggled, Austria later enjoyed a full house at the Raiffeisen Arena, overturning a ten‑man Israel 3‑1 with two late strikes.

Upcoming fixtures

Ireland's next game comes on Thursday when they host Austria at the Aviva Stadium, before travelling to Hungary for Sunday’s away clash with Israel at the Nagyerdei Stadion in Debrecan. The return tie with Israel will be staged at Serbia’s TSC Arena, meaning three of the four window matches will be played away from the Aviva, including a meeting with the Group 3 league leaders.

When asked whether the Israel‑centric build‑up to the Kosovo encounter had affected the players, Ogbene replied, “I would like to think not. There is a lot of discussion about things like that but we just tried to focus on Kosovo today. All our mindset was on Kosovo, to win this game and then deal with what’s coming, so I would like to think not.”

He later added, “I’m aware of the feelings towards the Israel game. It is a complicated and very difficult task, and I hope people don’t put pressure on us to answer difficult situations. There are people who can make those decisions and you can’t rely on footballers to make them. As a group we’ll look at it and see what we are going to do.”

The Irish camp says it will discuss matters internally and aim to regroup ahead of the Sunday fixture, hoping to translate the focus Ogbene described into a better result.