Italy boss wary of falling into Irish Trap

Eighteen minutes had elapsed of last night’s Italian pre-match press conference before the conversation turned to tonight’s opponents.

Proof, if it were needed, of how low Ireland’s stock has fallen here in the last week.

Of course, Giovanni Trapattoni merited mention before that, but his team didn’t. Yet, when Cesare Prandelli was finally asked about the Republic of Ireland, he warned it would be remiss not to be wary of a side that will approach the fixture unburdened by pressures or expectations and thus able to swing from the hip, so to speak.

“The difficulty comes with when you have taken all of the tension out of the European Championships. Then you can play quite freely. This is a good (Ireland) side and the difficulties arise with their long balls and flick-ons but we mustn’t allow them space to ask these questions.”

Slaven Bilic spoke dismissively of Ireland when in conversation with the Croatian media and respectfully when the interviewers were Irish. Vicente Del Bosque highlighted Kevin Doyle as the main threat when it was clear the Wolves striker would be dropped for the Spain game.

And Prandelli? Was he better informed? We will never know.

“I have never answered specifically on these questions,” he said when asked to pick out Ireland’s chief threats.

Prandelli maintained he was surprised to be facing an Ireland team that had already been eliminated from consideration for the quarter-finals but it was difficult to avoid the suspicion his words stemmed not from the abilities of his next opponents but those of their manager.

The 54-year old won three Serie A titles, a European Cup, UEFA Cup and Coppa Italia under Trapattoni as a player before moving on to Atalanta and he was more than happy to lionise a man who is almost two decades his senior and continues to hold a mesmeric hold on his fellow nationals.

“When I speak about Trapattoni I always talk about the coach, ‘Il Mister’. I had him at a special time in my career as a 20-year old. I grew up under him and so from a human perspective he has always respected everyone.

“He has got the desire to never give up, he has moved with the times he is still is competitive.

“He is a fantastic person. He is Il Mister, he is THE coach.”