It doesn’t matter if the roof is closed, says Marco

Giovanni Trapattoni had said he was concerned about the atmosphere and Alan Kelly had expressed worries about the flight of the ball, but, seemingly resigned to the roof in the Friends Arena being closed in Stockholm tomorrow night, Marco Tardelli now says it doesn’t really matter to the visitors.

“We are very strong and it makes no difference to us whether we play with the roof closed or not,” said Ireland’s assistant manager.

“For me it’s no problem but I don’t know about the players. Fifa decide. Everything in football is decided by Fifa/Uefa.”

Temperatures in the Swedish capital during the game are expected to plunge to between -10 and -15, whereas, with the roof remaining closed, the temperature inside the stadium will be around +15. Marco Tardelli was responding to a statement by a Fifa spokesperson which, while allowing that a final decision will not be made until tomorrow, suggested in the strongest possible terms that the case – and the roof – is already closed.

Said the spokesperson: “Fifa is currently assessing the weather situation with the host association and, as you will acknowledge, common sense should prevail at all times in order to ensure the best playing conditions to both teams as well as to ensure safety and security to the public and local organising committee on duty.

“At the moment, the roof is closed and the weather conditions are proven to be very adverse, with ice and snowfalls and extreme temperatures. The weather forecast up to the match seems not to show any kind of drastic improvement in this respect.

“Opening the roof would be too dangerous [it’s currently covered with ice and snow] and certainly difficult to understand if we want to preserve the pitch and playing conditions that are normal. At the time of writing, we do not see how [and why] we could imagine opening the roof, but the final decision will be taken upon arrival of our match commissioner on site.”