Episode Notes Kosovo vs Republic of Ireland ? UEFA Nations League | Match Preview Check out our other social media here: linktree.com/IFFTV - Kosovo ranked 78th in the world Ireland ranked 55th Ireland last 5 games: Draw Canada 1-1 Win Qatar 1-0 Win Grenada 5-0 Draw Macedonia 0-0 Loss Czechia on pens after 2-2 draw What Can We Expect? Hallgrimsson has seen injuries to the likes of Vale and McGrath so Killian Phillips comes in, what will Hallgrimsson go for in midfield could be key, Kosovo have midfield issues also. How will Ireland manage to not be distracted by all the noise surrounding the other fixture? Heimir Hallgrímsson admitted this is a "tricky time" for his Ireland squad as he expressed regret his comments on Israel had overshadowed the Nations League game against Kosovo. “We're grateful for all the support we have but creating and taking over maybe the headlines at the moment, from what I said in the last press meeting, is taking the attention away from maybe what's most important – the game against Kosovo,” “That was not the purpose. Maybe from a leadership point of view it wasn’t clever of me to take the attention like this. I need to be focused on the game, the players need to be focused on the game, but we're thankful for all the support we get because this is a tricky time for us.” All of the talk about this Kosovo match has been overshadowed about comments by Israel in response to Hallgrimmson’s “genocide” comments From an Irish perspective Ireland will need to be at their best at the back with Muriqi a dangerous striker who can score goals, he was last years La Liga 2nd top scorer for Mallorca before gaining a move to Fenerbahce and scored 4 goals last weekend, he will need to be stopped, but from an irish perspective we now have players that the opposition won't like playing against in Troy Parrott and Caoimhin Kelleher, and possibly Finn Azaz. Who comes in? Goalkeepers: Caoimhin Kelleher, Max O'Leary, Gavin Bazunu Defenders: James Abankwah, Joel Bagan, Jimmy Dunne, John Egan, Liam Kitching, Ryan Manning, Jake O'Brien, Dara O'Shea, Liam Scales Midfielders: Finn Azaz, Conor Coventry, Jason Knight, Jayson Molumby, Bosun Lawal, Killian Phillips Forwards: Owen Elding, Adam Idah, Jack Moylan, Chiedozie Ogbene, Troy Parrott, Rocco Vata, Tom Cannon Ogbene has had little minutes this season coming back from injury but has proved to work really well with Parrott for competitive games, Does Moylan come in based on form? Can this Irish side hurt Kosovo and kick off the Nations League with a win? Find out more at https://ifftv-podcast.pinecast.co
