Trapattoni arrives - A difficult task ahead

Giovanni TRAPATTONI, the new Irish soccer manager, gave his first press conference in this country yesterday.

He mentioned he was “very excited” when the selection panel first contacted him about the job. This was a measure of the success of some of his predecessors.

Having never before qualified for the finals of a major tournament, Jack Charlton led Ireland to the European Cup finals in Germany and to the World Cup finals in both Italy and the United States. Yet some media elements denounced him for having underachieved, even in the midst of unprecedented success. To an extent, he and his successor Mick McCarthy were victims of their own success, having competed in four major finals in a 14-year period. The nation was left with lasting memories of those heady days when the team and its supporters were magnificent ambassadors for this country in the international arena. Signor Trapattoni has not promised Ireland will win the World Cup, but he has said that he is “looking forward to the challenge” of having Ireland qualify out of a very tough group for the finals in South Africa. We wish him every success in this quest.