Trapattoni: I forgive Henry
The Republic were denied a place in this summer’s tournament in South Africa after Henry blatantly handled the ball in the build-up to William Gallas’ decisive goal for France, sparking mass outrage from all quarters although FIFA’s disciplinary committee have now ruled they have no power to sanction the Barcelona striker.
Trapattoni now admits he has put the events in Paris to bed, and says the bad feeling has passed.
“The bitterness has passed and what remains is the taste of the good performance and the regret that we didn’t end up in South Africa. With the qualifying round we fought, we deserved it. But I forgive Henry.”
The 70-year-old tactician has a contract with the Republic that runs until 2012, despite erroneous reports linking him with other jobs, notably Turkey.
Trapattoni insists that he will remain loyal to his deal, although conceded other jobs have been offered his way.
“Many national teams are interested,” he added. “They asked us ‘what are you doing, what aren’t you doing?’ But for now we’re remaining loyal to what we signed. But in life I always say never say never.”
Meanwhile, Trapattoni may have a battle on his hands to keep teenage starlet James McCarthy from changing his allegiance to Scotland.
Ireland U-21 international McCarthy scored his first Premier League goal for Wigan last week and is regarded as one of Ireland’s brightest young talents.
However the former Hamilton Accies star, who qualifies for the Republic through his grandparents, is still on new Scotland boss, Craig Levein’s radar.
A report yesterday claimed that McCarthy has been alerted to the possibility of Scotland being interested in him again. Although he has played for the Republic of Ireland at U-21 level, he hasn’t yet played a full, competitive international for Trapattoni’s side, so under FIFA rules he is free to play for Scotland.
Levein is eager to spread his net as far and wide as possible to ensure he has the strongest possible pool of talent available for Scotland. He is currently putting together a database which will cover every under-age and senior pro who qualifies for Scotland and he is currently scouring the country for potential targets.
