Whatever Trap tries to suggest, Sweden are leaving us behind

Giovanni Trapattoni can baffle and beguile in equal measure but when you eliminate the charm and strip his infamous Trappish right down to the bone, you’re invariably left with the impression that he views us lads and lassies of the media as plain, simple folk whose understanding of higher matters like the game of football leaves just about everything to be desired.

That seems the most likely explanation for the frequency with which, in response to any sustained questioning of his judgment, he’ll sooner or later just happen to mention his 50 years’ experience in the game, with specific reference to the “big, important” clubs he has managed, the major honours he has won in a variety of countries and the luminous names — those of Platini and Boniek tend to crop up a lot — who have benefited from his wisdom.

Part of the man’s undoubted charm is that this doesn’t come across as idle boasting so much as a statement of the bleeding obvious, against the force of which — to pick a germane example — your correspondent’s achievement in once reaching the heady heights of the Templeogue College ‘B’ team hardly qualifies as a devastating riposte in the ‘show us yer medals’ stakes. In any event, you suspect that everything Trap has ever thought about the meeja must have been stunningly vindicated on Thursday morning when he found himself being asked if the Greek goal against Ireland the previous night had been the best he’d ever seen and maybe even the best in the history of the game.