Séamus Coleman showed a touch of class as he made the day of two young Ukrainian children living in Ireland that attended the Aviva Stadium yesterday.
The Killybegs man was with the Republic of Ireland squad as they trained ahead of their second UEFA Nations League match against Ukraine in the Aviva today.
Mattvii Rybkin (12) and Illia Sydorenko (8) had the pleasure of being in attendance to watch the Irish stars train, and the Ireland captain treated them by video calling his Everton teammate and Ukraine full back Vitaliy Mykolenko to speak to the children.
The FAI donated 2,000 tickets to the Ukrainian refugee community as well as donating €100,000 to the Irish Red Cross Ukraine Crisis appeal from the proceeds of ticket sales for the fixture.
The President of the FAI, Gerry McAnaney said: “Football is only secondary to the current situation in Ukraine and the crisis their people are going through but this donation and the allocation of tickets to Ukrainian families now resident in Ireland will, we hope, consolidate our support for the Ukrainian people.
“I know the Irish people will welcome and support this initiative.”
Coleman will miss tonights game however, after suffering a groin injury in Ireland’s shock 1-0 loss to Armenia in Yerevan.
The right back came off with 10 minutes to go as Ireland kicked off their campaign in the worst possible form, losing to the country ranked 92nd in the world.
