Trap dismayed by Italy’s latest football scandal

IF tonight’s friendly in Liege might seem something of an anti-climax for Ireland after that high-stakes game in Skopje, for Italy the feeling must be closer to after-shock.

Once again, Italian club football finds itself engulfed in scandal, and the presence of Italian as well as Irish journalists in the media room of the Maurice Dufrasne stadium yesterday, ensured that Giovanni Trapattoni was obliged to spend a big chunk of the pre-match press conference addressing the culture of corruption which infects calcio.

“I am deeply saddened,” he said. “The eyes of the world are on Italian football and we shoot ourselves in the foot again. We hurt ourselves. It’s just impossible to believe.