Lady who whispers in Trap’s ear

SHE’S the country’s second favourite Italian, and Ireland’s No 1 bella donna for football.

But Manuella Spinelli is the same as every Republic of Ireland football fan in her admiration for numero uno, Giovanni Trapattoni.

Trap’s translator comes from the same Milanese area of Italy as the Irish manager, and they struck up a friendship the moment they met in Dublin. She admits to unashamedly seeking out the job when it was confirmed the 72-year-old football legend was to become Republic manager nearly four years ago.

“We’ll make this thing easy, just call me Giovanni,” he told her. “Please, don’t be formal with me. There’s no need.”

But as Manuella tells sports journalist of the year Kieran Shannon in an interview in the Weekend Sport section of today’s Irish Examiner, that was easier said than done.

“Right there we clicked. I don’t know still if people in Ireland really appreciate just how big he is in Italy or European football. In Italy he is just a god. Whether you like football or not, everyone in Italy knows Trapattoni. But I couldn’t get over how down to earth he was. He has time for everybody. He never gives off that air of ‘Do you know who I am?’”

Seeing the pair on TV, at times it’s as if she is his own daughter. But be-cause the job is effectively a halfway house between translation and inter-pretation, Manuella has to be constantly vigilant.

“It’s more tiring, more difficult,” she explains in her impeccable English.

“Someone who doesn’t speak a second language, you do your job and that’s it, done and dusted. But in the case of The Boss, your level of concentration has to be higher in case he switches into Italian or, when he keeps speaking in English, to make sure that he’s not being misunderstood.”

Though Manuella doesn’t have a formal contract with the FAI, she is likely to accompany the Republic of Ireland to Poland for the Euro 2012 finals, but has little to do with the players. “My job,” she says, “really starts after the match.”