Trap likes the luck of the draw

BOSS Giovanni Trapattoni has given an unreserved thumbs-up to Ireland’s fixture schedule for the 2012 European Championship campaign.

Yesterday’s draw at the UEFA congress in Tel Aviv sees the campaign book-ended by away and home games against Armenia, with the key matches against top seeds Russia and Slovakia turning up as Tuesday and Friday double-headers in October of this year and September of 2011. Ireland’s first meeting with the Russians will be in Dublin on October 8, while there is a notable bonus in that the trip to Moscow will be in early September of next year, meaning Trapattoni’s team will be spared even the early effects of the Russian winter. Yesterday’s draw also means that little Andorra will provide the opposition for the first competitive international at the new Aviva Stadium, on September 7 of this year.

“The draw is very good,” says Trapattoni. “I think the first away game in Armenia is like the game the last time against Georgia, and then we have Andorra at home. For me it is a very, very good start because in September our players are fit. The players will have been playing with their clubs and normally our players at fit at that time. That is very good news and important news. The first three games – Armenia away, and Andorra and Russia home – I think give us a good chance to gain an advantage. I hope we do, it is a possibility.”