Trapattoni remains upbeat after seeing 'two games'

ON A POOR night for football Ireland held on for a draw at the Ullevaal Stadium but, predictably, Giovanni Trapattoni was decidedly upbeat about both last night's performance and the result.

Through long stretches of the second half there was barely an attempt on goal and the veteran Italian insisted what was important was that when there was the chance to play some football, the Irish had done it quite well.

"I saw two games tonight," he said. "The first half and the second half. My opinion is that in the first half both teams played well. The pitch was good, it was possible to play good football and we scored a goal.

"But in the second half it was impossible to keep playing that way and unfortunately we allowed them to score.

"It's not really disappointing, though. The result was fair and today marks a good start for us with our strongest side. We showed that we could play well and use our mentality to get us through in the end."

Norway, he said, had looked to use the long ball and used it well. "We looked to play the ball on the ground between the midfield and the strikers but with the water on the pitch in the second half that became impossible," he said.

"If the weather had been better then maybe we could have scored another goal, but I'm satisfied."

The conditions, indeed, had contributed to the Norwegian equaliser, the product of a free from the left that Dean Kiely and then Kevin Kilbane both failed to clear.

"I went to other countries, Austria and Germany, and saw there how difficult it can be for players to defend at set-pieces. They had big players tonight and with the water it was difficult for our players. We're not disappointed because we think the result was fair."

Asked if he thought the referee should have abandoned the game as the conditions worsened, he said no. "It's a friendly game. I think for the spectators it was right to play on."

Trapattoni noted his players have only just embarked on their new club season in Britain and that part of the reason they were edged over the second half was that they were not quite as match fit as their opponents.

He also pointed to the fact this was the first time he had something that closely resembled his first-choice XI together out on the field. "It's not an excuse," he said, "but in the circumstances I'm pleased because we could have lost in the second half but we didn't, our mentality helped us through. Now we have some time to prepare and improve for the first of our qualifying games against Georgia."

The performance, he feels will help restore belief to a side that looked to have lost it towards the end of their last qualifying campaign. "In every work," he said, "not only football, it's important to believe.

"We said yesterday that we have to believe in our qualities. I saw after the game tonight the players were happy and that's important."

Irish skipper and goalscorer Robbie Keane seemed just as satisfied with the way things had gone. "The first half was very good, we got to grips with the game in the first 15 minutes but I really thought that in the 30 minutes before half-time we were very good, played some good football and controlled the ball very well.

"After that, I think the conditions in the second half completely ruined the game. I think we would have kicked on, we were in control of the game and we could have scored a couple of more. But the pitch absolutely spoiled the second half and in the circumstances we'll take the positives from the first half."

The Liverpool striker was particularly enthusiastic about the performance of Steven Reid who was returning after an absence of nearly two years because of injury.

"He was fantastic," said Keane. "He's got everything. He's a good holding midfielder but he's also always looking for that threaded pass for the strikers, which is very good. He did that a lot of times in the first half, it's always good to have someone to play balls into that little hole where I like them played. It's great to have him back and he has a presence in that midfield."