Mick McCarthy has spoken of the face-off with the Portuguese national team manager Antonio Oliveira that ended the clash between the two teams in Dublin at the weekend in unsavoury fashion.
McCarthy defended his approach to the after-match formalities after the final whistle was almost followed by a scuffle.
After a tough 1-1 draw which followed a week in which Ireland's Ian Harte had been at the centre of a controversy, the Portuguese manager refused to shake McCarthy's hand, something the Yorkshireman sees as a breach of a code of honour among players and managers.
Oliveira clearly provoked McCarthy's wrath with the snub. The Republic boss fumed: "Even as a player if I had had a real ding-dong with a player, I'd shake their hand."
McCarthy had to be restrained by Portuguese legend Eusebio when he realised that Oliveira was not going to kiss and make up.
"Maybe I shouldn't have reacted the way I did but I was always told to shake hands afterwards."
One consolation came from Luis Figo. After the accusations leveled against him by Ian Harte in which the Leeds player alleged that Figo had dived and feigned injury, the Real Madrid midfielder still came up to McCarthy to offer a hug as a way of calming the angered boss.
McCarthy said: "I'd much rather have a hug from Figo anyway. That's the esteem I hold him in as a player and a person."
Further consolation came from the result itself, which edged the team towards a position which will either end in automatic qualification or a play-off place
"I'd have taken that gift-wrapped at the start of the campaign," said McCarthy.
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