Doyle left stunned by Spaniards

With 2012 drawing to a close, Kevin Doyle has spoken candidly about how the Republic of Ireland players’ pre-tournament optimism was destroyed at the European Championships.

The Wolves striker said that before the tournament the players had the mindset that Ireland could emerge from a group that included Spain and Italy — who subsequently contested the final — and Croatia.

‘‘We went into it with such big, high hopes and there was such a big build-up to it, and we sort of forgot we were playing Spain, Italy and Croatia,’’ Doyle recalled. ‘‘It was more, ‘Ah we’ll be fine, we’ll nick a couple of results and we’ll definitely get through the group’. We were so positive going into it. When the time came, we came up against some really good teams, we didn’t perform as well as we can but also we played against two teams who made the final.’’

The finals were a miserable experience for Ireland with the biggest low coming when Giovanni Trapattoni’s men were routed 4-0 by Spain in the second game.

Doyle was an unused sub that night and was staggered by Spain’s quality.

‘‘I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life,’’ he told his former Cork City team-mate George O’Callaghan in an interview for fecktv.com. ‘‘They’re ridiculous to watch. I didn’t actually get on the pitch but watching from the sideline, they are just the best team I’ve ever seen play football. No matter what team, or what formation, or what we did we weren’t going to get anything that day and it’s the first time I’ve said that about a team we’ve played. They were just frightening.’’

Doyle has struggled to nail down a regular starting berth over the past year but insists he doesn’t feel badly treated by Trapattoni.

He said: ‘‘A few years ago I would have been more aggrieved. As I get older, I try to look at it from a manager’s point of view. I’m not the type to throw tantrums or get upset about things. I just get on with it. He didn’t pick me. We’ve plenty of good players. I had just been relegated with Wolves – he wanted to do something different so that’s the way it is, simple as that.’’