Road to Brazil set to begin with Kazakh kick-off

GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI got some — but by no means all — of his wishlist at yesterday’s World Cup fixtures meeting in Frankfurt.

Although the manager said he was happy with the balance of the schedule, he had made it clear in advance of the meeting that, as in the European Championship qualifiers, he hoped to avoid the biggest guns early in the campaign.

That hasn’t happened this time, with top seeds Germany our second opponents in Group C, though Ireland will have the benefit of playing that game at home. Trapattoni will also be pleased the match takes place in October, meaning his players will have been able to get some decent game time with their clubs since the start of the new season, a season that could prove all the more taxing after their summer exertions in Poland and Ukraine.