Trap points finger at Russians

GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI believes that pressure from Russia has resulted in Ireland having to play their next European Championship qualifier in Andorra’s tiny Communal d’Andorra Stadium.

Andorra had originally indicated that they would play the October 7 game in Espanyol’s ground in Barcelona but later cited a UEFA decree for the decision to revert back to the 1,800 capacity venue in the capital of Andorra. Significantly, that is where Russia and Slovakia have already played their away games to Andorra in Group B. “I think Russia wanted us to play in Andorra. There is some malice there, I think. Little teams have certain habits and certain customs and, playing in Barcelona, psychologically Andorra can lose their attitude and mentality.”

Asked if he could sympathise with the Russian point of view, Trapattoni replied: “Sure, I think we can admit this but now we must think about our attitude and our approach to this game. We will have to be able to adapt because on the little pitch there will be less space. It will be important that we are disciplined. We will need a warm heart but a cold mind.”

Saying he had no plans to rest players on yellow cards to protect them for the final qualifier in Dublin against Armenia, Trapattoni dismissed the fact that Andorra are currently the lowest-ranked team in world football — joint 203rd alongside Samoa, Western Samoa, Montserrat and San Marino.

“That is only a statistic,” he said before going on to recall a training game during his time as manager of Juventus when he togged out with the youths against a senior side including the likes of Marco Tardelli, Michel Platini and Zbigniew Boniek.

“For one hour we held them scoreless,” he said, “because the young team was hungry and aggressive. A little team can push and push and not allow you to think about what you can do. It becomes a battle. But we understand this and we will not fall into the trap. What matters most is the result.”

However, Trapattoni was only too happy to call on statistics to support his claim that he and Marco Tardelli “deserve” an extension to their contracts with the FAI, observing that when the Italians took charge three years ago Ireland were ranked 41st in the world and, just this week, had made another upward move to 29.

However, reports on a Russian website that talks were due to start yesterday were revealed to be well wide of the mark both by the manager and FAI sources. But even as the Italian stressed the priority of the two games to come, he was still not slow to warn his employers about the risks of a change in management. “I wish to let the FAI be quiet. But every change is always a little bit difficult. A new manager must get to know the team and the players. So when we are on the right way, why break it? It would take a new manager time to get to know the players so we should leave the FAI to think about this.”

Asked if he thought that contract discussions couldn’t realistically take place until after the Armenia game, Trapattoni replied: “Maybe, I don’t know. They can wait or not. I hope and think we can continue. But if it’s not possible, okay, bye, bye.”

Meanwhile, Trapattoni yesterday named a 27-man squad for the games away to Andorra (Friday, Oct 7) and home to Armenia (Oct 11).

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND squad: S Given (Aston Villa), K Westwood (Sunderland), D Forde (Millwall, J O’Shea (Sunderland), K Foley (Wolves), S Kelly (Fulham), S Ward (Wolves), R Dunne (Aston Villa), K Kilbane (Derby), S St Ledger (Leicester City), D O’Dea (Leeds Utd), D Delaney (Ipswich Town), G Whelan (Stoke City), J McCarthy (Wigan Athletic) S Coleman (Everton), K Andrews (Ipswich Town) K Fahey, (Birmingham City), A Keogh (Leeds), D Duff (Fulham), A McGeady (Spartak Moscow), S Hunt (Wolves), L Lawrence (Portsmouth), R Keane (LA Galaxy), K Doyle (Wolves), S Long (WBA), S Cox (WBA), J Walters (Stoke).