Indomitable 'old soldier' inspires pride and admiration

Italian reaction: Paddy Agnewscans the newspapers for comment on Giovanni Trapattoni and the Irish job.

"Trap l'Irlandese", Trap the Irishman - Giovanni Trapattoni's appointment as the Republic of Ireland's manager inevitably received widespread coverage in yesterday's Italian media, reaction ranging from nationalistic pride to straightforward admiration for the longevity of the great Trapattoni career.

Up in Turin, they know Trapattoni better than most given he won six Serie A titles as coach to the Old Lady of Turin, Juventus.

The Turin daily La Stampaspoke of the "11 lives" of Trapattoni, in reference to the 11 sides (Italy included) that have marked out his managerial career, adding: "He has won, won again and gone on to dominate entirely.

"He is like that old Japanese soldier in the jungle, hidden among the rocks and bushes of his career, he keeps on fighting a war that is all of his own. He is fighting against time (he will be 69 in March) and he is fighting against clichés of the sort that say he is finished, forget about him"

Many Italian commentators highlight the fact this appointment represents one in the eye for those critics (and there were plenty of them) who were all too willing to write off Trapattoni in the wake of Italy's failures at the 2002 World Cup and 2004 European Championships, when he was, of course, the Italy coach.

Much attention was paid to Trapattoni's remarks yesterday to the effect that his Italian critics considered him "a fossil out of Jurassic Park".

For that reason, Trapattoni told the news agency Ansa, he had refused an offer from the Serie A side Parma as recently as Sunday night. He has no desire to coach again in Italy, he says.

Nor, by the way, were Parma the only team to have contacted Trapattoni in recent weeks. In the same Ansa interview, Ireland's new manager revealed he was contacted by "a couple" of east European national teams but that, after sounding out his former Juventus star Liam Brady he opted for Ireland.

Inevitably, too, much is made of the fact Trapattoni now represents an obstacle on Italy's path to the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa, given Italy and Ireland have been drawn in the same qualifying group. More than one critic warned against an April Fools' Day joke from Trapattoni when Italy play Ireland on April 1st, 2009.

Trapattoni's colleagues were especially warm in their reaction. England manager Fabio Capello joked, "We've conquered the British Isles (sic) now", while 2006 World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi hailed the appointment as yet another tribute to Italian coaching: "I'm very pleased. This is further proof of just how highly Italian coaches are rated. People see us as the ideal guys to start up a whole new cycle . . . Trapattoni will be of great benefit to Irish football even if it will be hard to qualify for the World Cup."

Another ex-Italy coach, Trapattoni's one-time Juventus goalkeeper Dino Zoff, also underlined the problems Trapattoni could cause for Italy on the road to South Africa: "Giovanni is a hugely enthusiastic guy, he loves a new challenge like this. He'll be all the more stimulated to find himself in the same World Cup qualifying group as Italy. I wish him all the best of luck."

Trapattoni is widely reported as saying he would have preferred not to face Italy: "I bear no grudge and have no desire for revenge (against Italy) and if I could I would have avoided Italy. But obviously, when we come up against them, we will do our best to beat the reigning world champions", he told Ansa.

Yet another ex-Italy coach, Azeglio Vicini, the man who led Italy at the 1990 World Cup, underlined the ongoing success story of the Italian school of coaching, saying: "This is a tendency that began some years ago with Claudio Ranieri at Chelsea. Now we have Capello as England manager and Trapattoni in Ireland.

"We started a bit late and we were slow to make the most of these opportunities, sometimes because we had problems with a foreign language. That's why we try to explain to all our coaches just how important it is to learn English"

Many commentators suggest that this could be an "ideal" job for Trapattoni in that his tough, battling qualities seem sure to strike a major chord with his Ireland players.

Furthermore, his wife Paola will finally get to see a little more of him, given he will be based at home in Milan, travelling weekly to Britain to see his squad in club action.

A final thought on Trapattoni's appointment comes from La Stampaand contrasts the high standing of Italian coaches with many other aspects of Italy: "Our school of coaching continues to seduce people. Outside of football, people see us Italians as scoundrels and corrupt but when it comes to the pitch, then it's a different music."