Trapattoni: We have no excuses

Ireland boss insists his side can still pull off ‘good surprise’ in final two games

On a night that Ireland’s system was fatally exposed, an admirably magnanimous Giovanni Trapattoni offered few excuses. Only suggestions to keep believing.

“They deserved to win because they were superior in midfield.

“Our performance was not like previous performances. In many games, we have played better.”

The manager did have a mild rebuke for referee Bjorn Kuipers for allowing what he thought was an offside Croatian second, but otherwise couldn’t really complain.

“I don’t know if there is a deflection but the second goal was clearly offside. Two metres. These two goals [either side of half-time] we lost all.

“We made one mistake, the referee also make one mistake. It is very difficult for me, what happened in this first half.

“Yes, we were a little bit unlucky but, even with the first goal, it was our mistake, our situation. Maybe we had tension in this moment. Obviously the second goal was very important because it kicked us.”

Trapattoni also denied that Shay Given was not fully fit.

“Shay was perfect. Yesterday, he played. Not the problem. He did not see the ball for the first goal. There were three or four players in front of him.”

The manager did admit, however, that he may make changes.

“If I decide to change, it will not be about who deserves to play or who doesn’t.

“Remember, though, our opponents [Spain and Italy] only have one point. Psychologically, we can recover and believe again. We have to remember how many games we have played without conceding a goal. That is important. We believe in our strength.

“We have to believe in what we did before. Every game in this Euros, there is chance for a very good surprise. We have to believe this is possible. We have to believe this. Until now, we scored in games. We didn’t lose, we didn’t concede. We didn’t have situations like this evening. I think we shouldn’t forget this.”

Alongside his manager, Robbie Keane expressed sympathy for the fabulous Irish support. That goes without saying, the Irish support are always in good voice. You’ve seen the numbers that supported the team. Gutted for them that we didn’t get result for them. I think the two goals, either side of half-time, killed us. That was the killer blow and it was always going to be uphill from then.”

He also insisted he should have had a penalty after the foul from Gordon Schildenfeld.

“It was definitely a penalty, no question about that. The fans were shouting for me to kick the ball out but whether the referee had that at the back of his mind, you’re going to have to ask him.”

Croatian coach Slaven Bilic was bullish after his team’s win, insisting it was exactly what he expected.

“We were preparing for this victory. We knew everything about this Irish team. We knew we were a better team. But you never know. Everybody thought we were not playing well in this match but don’t worry, we showed tonight how we can play. It happened the same in that match in August 2011 but we were much better today in attack. Our combinations were much more successful. I congratulate both teams, the supporters. The atmosphere was great and the match was very good even for neutrals.”

He also praised his team for their level of performance.

“I’m completely satisfied with the way we were playing tonight. We were keeping possession. We were really strong in midfield. The wingers were doing their job. We passed the ball really well. The Irish didn’t lose for the last 14 matches. They are a strong team. We don’t want to be too euphoric but let me say we played really well and beat a strong team.”