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Lee Carsley says he has never sung a national anthem as Republic of Ireland player or England coach and seems set to stick with that stance as the countries meet in his first match as interim boss.
Saturday’s Nations League opener marks the start of a new era for both teams, with Heimir Hallgrimsson taking charge of the hosts for the first time against a side starting life without Gareth Southgate.
England’s long-serving manager stepped down shortly after July’s Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain and Carsley was handed the reins on a temporary basis as the Football Association weighs up its options.
The 50-year-old says the Dublin clash will be a “proud moment for myself and my family”, but singing ‘God Save the King’ looks out of the question for a player that represented Ireland 40 times as player.
“This is something that I always struggled with when I was playing for Ireland,” Birmingham-born Carsley said of anthems.
“The gap between your warm-up, your coming on to the pitch and the delay with the anthems. So it’s something that I have never done.
“I was always really focused on the game and my first actions of the game. I really found that in that period I was wary about my mind wandering off.
“I was really focused on the football and I have taken that in to coaching.
“We had the national anthem with the Under-21s also and I am in a zone at that point.
“I am thinking about how the opposition are going to set up and our first actions within the game.
“I fully respect both anthems and understand how much they mean to both countries. It’s something I am really respectful of.”
