Ireland will live to regret decision

GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI has expressed his disappointment at Stephen Ireland’s decision not to resume his Irish career and suggested that the player could live to regret it.

At the weekend, the Manchester City midfielder said that retiring from international football was the best decision he ever made but, speaking at the squad’s training base in Malahide yesterday, the Ireland manager begged to differ.

“It’s a pity, it’s a pity,” said the Italian, spreading his arms wide in a gesture of resignation. “I have said this before but I am convinced that when he is a little bit older he will regret it. He is still young and he doesn’t know that in the future, when he will is an old man, he will realise what he is missing at this moment.”

Still, even now Trapattoni refuses to close the door to the possibility of a comeback although he seems to accept that it won’t happen before the end of the current World Cup qualifying campaign.

“I have seen many other great champions, football players and in other categories, who have retired and then after two years come back. Schumacher is an example. So is Tyson. So in the future, maybe Stephen will be able to think about that.

“And if I continue with this job with Ireland, I will try again in the future to change his mind. My door is not closed. But I don’t want to talk too much about it in public. The more you talk, the more the situation gets complicated. But it’s not closed, I still have hope for the future. Never say never.”

However, in the short term, Trapattoni sees no advantage in trying to open up a fresh line of communication with the Cobh-born 23-year-old.

“What he said publicly is enough, I don’t need to go and speak with him,” said the manager. “He reads what I say and then he closes up, like a hedgehog. The more we talk about it, the worse it is.”

On rather less prickly subject matter, the manager was pleased to report an almost full bill of health for the Irish squad as they began their preparations for Saturday’s game against Cyprus in Nicosia.

Sean St Ledger (knee) and Caleb Folan (ankle) sat out training but the manager expects both to train today and is confident that the Preston centre-half, rated doubtful at the weekend, will be fit to take his place alongside Richard Dunne in Nicosia.

With Kevin Foley already ruled out through injury, Dunne was the only member of the squad not in Dublin yesterday as he remained in England in an effort to finalise his move from Manchester City to Aston Villa, a development welcomed by his international boss.

“It’s important for our national team that all are players regularly play 90 minutes,” he said. “This team (Villa) is not famous like Manchester but it is important for his morale that he plays. Because, like Duff, Richard is an important player for us.”

Trapattoni left open the possibility of either Stephen Hunt or Aiden McGeady starting in Nicosia, with the manager explaining why he was at pains to keep his detailed plans under wraps.

“I must let all the players fry a little bit longer so they are all ready and charged,” he grinned. “Competition is important. Tomorrow they must read the papers and think: we can all play.”

Inevitably, the manager’s first press conference of this big World Cup week would not have been complete without some discussion of Ireland’s demoralising experience the last time they visited the Cypriot capital.

“I saw that game and I also saw the game one year before when Ireland won 1-0,” said Trapattoni. “And I think we must be under no illusion about Cyprus losing 6-1 to Albania in their last match – that was a misleading result. I saw that game too. I have already said to the players that we must think about our two friendly defeats when we conceded a goal within three minutes against Poland and within 30 minutes against Australia. We must change our mentality and be aware of the little details important to win the game.

“A draw would not be disastrous but our priority is to win so the table remains the same when we play Italy in Dublin because that then becomes the game that could decide qualification.”

So everything to play for in the future then, but as the team turns towards Nicosia, Trapattoni can’t quite shake off the past, even if it was one in which he had no part.

“That 5-2 score sitting on our shoulders must be a great motivation,” he concluded.