Italian media impressed by Trap’s great escape

It was all up with Giovanni Trapattoni after the Germany fiasco, according to his Italian compatriots.

An old warrior, one of the best, loved by all — well most anyway — he’d finally reached his use-by date and was on his way home for a well-earned retirement.

They remember his fate after Italy’s debacle in Portugal in 2004 and they could sense the frustration in Ireland, building on the disappointment of this year’s European Championships.