SOCCER WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING: IN THE wake of a narrow win that maintains his team's unbeaten start to the World Cup campaign and leaves them joint top of Group Eight with Italy, Giovanni Trapattoni has defended what some have come to see as his rather negative tactical approach on the basis that it is necessary because of the relative weakness of his squad.
The Italian said that while a more attacking style might generate additional entertainment it might well, as it had in the past, result in Ireland conceding rather than scoring more goals, something that could fatally undermine the team’s chances of qualifying for the World Cup in South Africa next year.
“People ask me why, when we played Cyprus and scored a goal we didn’t keep pushing for a second,” he said. “Well, it’s because I saw that two years ago when the team kept going forward, Cyprus kept coming back and scoring goal, goal, goal.”
With that 5-2 defeat having highlighted just how badly a more attacking game-plan can go wrong, he believes, his somewhat cautious approach is amply justified as it is the one best suited to maximising the potential of the particular players at his disposal. Indeed, he points to the slightly fortunate win over Georgia as evidence that he and his players are on the right track.
“We are no Brazil; we suffered a little but we won,” the manager observed during what was a lively and good humoured review of Wednesday night’s win.
“For much of the game there were 18 players between their box and the halfway line and in that situation you have to look for space but it isn’t easy. Sometimes, though, it’s not just about ability, it’s about self belief.
“And I was proud of the team. In the dressingroom I tried to reassure them at half-time. I said to them to believe in our game. That it is possible not to lose. It was very important not to lose. Even if we got a draw we would keep a big lead over Bulgaria.
“It’s good to be on 10 points but 1-1 was good enough. As it turned out we had a very important reaction and I was proud of their spirit and character.”
Trapattoni insisted yesterday that he has faith in the group available to him and singled out a number for particular praise but, he acknowledged, the weakness of the overall pool of Irish talent is “a problem” that has obliged him to invest heavily in his system.
“I have thought a great deal about this team and I have seen many DVDs of the games before me. Sometimes there were beautiful games but they also lost.
“Now, I think we have created a system, we have created a solid group and maybe that will be good enough. In Italy and Spain there are also teams who do not play well every time but they get the result.
“I was in Italy,” he replied when pressed on the issue, “I was with great teams so don’t misunderstand me but what about the Irish team under previous coaches. Was it always so good under Jack Charlton?
“And now we have different players. We don’t have Beckham. We don’t have Ronaldo. The players are the players. I can give them my experience. I can improve the results but I can’t change their natural qualities.”
His hope, then, is that as long as the majority of his best players stay fit and all adhere to the system he has decided upon, that the team can simply rise to the challenges that lie ahead and play better football against their main qualification rivals in their next three games.
“From experience, I can tell you that I played against many famous teams when I was a player and I played well against the famous players. Also, I played against the not so famous players and sometimes I didn’t do well, I didn’t take the ball once in 90 minutes. Against Pele my performance was better so can it not be possible for Ireland against Italy?
“We don’t play for second place,” he added. “Dreaming is not forbidden and sometimes the dreams come true.”
In order for his dream of Ireland finishing first in this qualification to come true, he concedes, it is important for the team to head for Bari at the end of next month still level on points with the world champions.
It is a long time since the Irish have beaten a side ranked above them in a qualifying game and Bulgaria, Trapattoni says, will be especially difficult, because “they have one or two players who can change games”, although he clearly believes his team can do it.
He will be helped by the fact that the team now managed by Stanimir Stoilov is likely to arrive in Dublin without Martin Petrov, Valeri Bozhinov, Aleksandar Tunchev or Chavdar Tankov, all of whom are suffering from long-term injuries but the bad news is that Montenegro’s star striker, Mirko Vuncinic, is suspended for his country’s meeting with Italy the same day.
Asked about April 1st’s meeting with Italy, Trapattoni insisted that it is not yet even on his radar. “I think only about Bulgaria now,” he said. “Only after that game will I think about Italy. Only with that mentality can you progress.”
TV FIGURES
The Republic of Ireland’s game against Georgia at Croke Park on Wednesday night attracted the highest audience to RTÉ Two for a World Cup qualifier so far in Ireland’s campaign with a massive peak audience of 1,077,000 viewers and a peak share of 62 per cent at 9.40pm, the final minute before full-time.
The tense game drew an average audience of 768,000 viewers for the entire match (7.49pm - 9.41pm) equating to an average 45 per cent share of the available TV audience.
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