Trap: Irish pride needed in Italy

AFTER the disappointment of Saturday night’s draw with Bulgaria, Giovanni Trapattoni is expecting a positive reaction from his team when Ireland take on world champions Italy in Bari on Wednesday.

“When I played against the big teams as a player it always brought a positive reaction from me,” the manager says. “These players have the same mentality. They are proud and they will be stimulated by the challenge of playing Italy.

“You can see how strong they are mentally in how they reacted after Bulgaria made it 1-1. I said to Marco Tardelli ‘These players are proud’. Our character is important.

“I am not thinking about losing in Bari. But it doesn’t worry me, we have enough distance between ourselves and Bulgaria. Have you looked at the table? I looked at it before the game and we had 10 points in second place. In other groups, there were teams with seven, eight or nine points in second place.

“Of course, it is important that we try to get a result against Italy and we will approach the game without fear.”

Trapattoni says that he will be honoured to lead out Ireland in his native land, although he expects the affection which he believes is felt for him by his compatriots to be in short supply inside the San Nicola stadium.

“I am one of the most loved Italian coaches, I think, not for results but because of what people think of me,” he says. “Results are results, they can change on whether a ball hits the post or goes into the goal or a referee’s decision.

“It is also important what people think of my work in Austria, Germany, Portugal Ireland or wherever. But I think because the people in Bari will be Italy supporters on the night, I am not sure if I will get a warm reception.

“It is an honour for me to bring Ireland to Italy. They consider this Ireland team with respect. This is not payback time for me or anything like that but I think, because we have a good team, we can play well without being afraid.

“Now, I am thinking only about this game. On an Italian TV station the other night they had a one-hour documentary about my career and all of the things that I did done at Inter Milan, Juventus and AC Milan. “But that is history. I am not like a general who is looking at all his medals on his chest. I am thinking only about the present which is Wednesday’s game against Italy. I have told the players that they must forget about the game against Bulgaria. We turn a new page and now we are looking forward.”

Trapattoni admits that his players required a morale boost yesterday as they continued to smart from the setback against Bulgaria.

Said the manager: “When I saw the team in the morning, I could see that they were still a little bit disappointed but I was happy. Sure, we could have won the game but I said beforehand that if we could not win then it was important that we did not lose and we did not.

“So I told them to forget about the Bulgaria game. I told them that I got some information about Italy and that they had not played well against Montenegro (where the Italians won 2-0). I have told them that it will be a different game against Italy than it was against Bulgaria. They will not be shoved and pushed off the ball like they were against Bulgaria.

“It is not my habit but I had some words with the referee (on Saturday) because I felt our players were being fouled but Italy do not play like this. They are creative with players like Andrea Pirlo and Daniele de Rossi but I think we can do well against them.

“The players enjoyed training and they had a bit of fun. Then I told them to recharge their batteries before we think about Italy.”

Meanwhile, having watched the match again on television, Trapattoni still feels that Ireland did enough to win against the Bulgarians.

“I haven’t changed my opinion about the game,” he says. “Bulgaria had more possession than us sure, but we had two better opportunities than they did. If it finished 1-0 to us, nobody could say anything. We did everything possible to win this game.

“Our team was balanced which was important because we could have lost this game. They had three or four players with creativity, not better than our players but different. Our defenders were unbeatable and our midfield and strikers played well. It was difficult for ourplayers because they were very physical.”

And, once again, the manager rejects criticism of his selection policy and reluctance to use substitutions.

“Ireland is not like England, Italy or Spain,” the Italian observes. “We cannot choose 30 or 40 players. We have what we have and I must give confidence to the players that are here.

“The team was balanced as it was and you ask me to make changes but we created opportunities after Bulgaria had equalised so why should I change? Aiden McGeady and Kevin Doyle both had chances to score so should I have taken them off? Maybe I could have brought Caleb Folan on but we were still playing well.

“In the first half, yes, Shay Given had to make saves but, in the second, I cannot remember any difficult situations that he had. I cannot make changes because of every criticism or analysis that is made. You have your job to do and I have mine.”