Summer in Dublin for Trapattoni’s boys in green

UNLESS the Irish summer surprises us all, there will be no warm-weather training camp for the boys in green this year.

Instead, Giovanni Trapattoni will gather the troops at Malahide between May 16 and 21 ahead of the back-to-back friendly games against Paraguay and Algeria at the RDS.

Two years ago, the manager took the squad to a training camp on the Algrave, as Steve Staunton had done before him so, on the face of it, the decision to stay at home this year looks as if the recession is biting for the international team as for everyone else.

But not so, according to FAI sources, who say there had been offers under consideration for the squad to train at locations in Corsica and Spain and that cost was not an issue.

However, both options were eventually turned down for a variety of logistical and technical reasons before Trapattoni decided to revert to Ireland’s customary home base at Gannon Park on the east coast.

The manager will not be using the training camp to prepare for the friendly games per se.

Instead, he will use the five days to run the rule over some 20 players, mainly comprising fringe squad members and new faces, before the more familiar first team squad assembles in the immediate run-up to the Paraguay match on May 25. The game against Algeria follows three days later.

It is expected, however, that there will be some overlap between the two squads as Trapattoni begins to lay the groundwork for the start of the European Championship campaign in the autumn.

There is also the prospect of what might be called the ‘B’ squad playing a game or two against local opposition over the course of their week together.

Meanwhile, the FAI is remaining tight-lipped about the identities of the teams likely to contest the very first game of football at the new Aviva Stadium. Officially, the FAI will get to inaugurate their new home when the Republic host Argentina there on August 11 but it is now widely expected that there will be a trial run of the new ground in the coming months.

One suggestion was that the venue might play host to an Airtricity League Premier Division game or, alternatively, the fixture could take the form of a high-profile friendly. The ceremonial opening of the 50,000-seater stadium will take place on Friday, May 14 with Taoiseach Brian Cowen doing the honours.