Ukrainian coach "moved" by Irish welcome

Ukraine head coach Oleksandr Petrakov. Photo credit: Malcolm Mackenzie/PA Wire.

Ukraine coach Oleksander Petrakov took his leave having presented Stephen Kenny and Irish football with a rather large headache but you couldn’t begrudge the visitors their 1-0 Nations League victory and the scenes that followed it.

The FAI had handed out 3,500 tickets to Ukrainian refugees for this encounter and there were other pockets of blue and yellow dappled around the Aviva Stadium as they demonstrated their support for a country struggling for its very existence.