MANAGERS' REACTION: EMMET MALONEhears from Giovanni Trapattoni and Dunga after last night's match
GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI was frank about his side’s failings in the wake of last night’s 2-0 defeat by World Cup contenders Brazil but, the veteran Italian coach insisted, the Irish might well have made life far more difficult for their opponents at the Emirates had the South Americans not benefited from a poor offside decision in the dying seconds of the opening half.
“I think we saw 45 minutes of very, very beautiful football from both teams,” he said. “We played at the same level as Brazil and I thought during that time we could continue to match them, perhaps step things up for a good result, maybe win but certainly avoid defeat.
“But the first goal was offside by one metre and I think if the first half had finished at nil-nil then Brazil’s approach in the second half would have been a little different. As it was, they grew in confidence and went on to win well. But in life or football it is not about ‘if, if, if’. They (the Irish players) made some silly mistakes, gave them some great opportunities and they could have scored one or two goals more.
“After 50 minutes,” he continued, “it was clear we could not recover. We had players in more than one position who were clearly tired after playing 90 minutes for their clubs only a couple of days ago and I decided to take off players like Damien Duff and Glenn Whelan and Kevin Doyle. Given the game was beyond us I thought about the managers of the clubs who these players play for and so I decided to give them more chance recovering before the weekend. There was a problem too with some of the players who don’t normally play 90 minutes. They struggled, it was clear they were not fit enough to last 90 minutes.”
The Italian said he was pleased to have been able to give James McCarthy his senior debut, even if the circumstances were not ideal, but he made it clear again it will be some time before the teenager is the finished article. “Really, we could have done with another two days to teach him about the movement we wanted from him. But he’s clever and he did well. He’s young and for a game like this you need some players with long hair and a beard too.”
The former Italy manager acknowledged Brazil will have to be taken seriously as contenders to lift the World Cup title in July.
“I’ve already said there are many teams playing well in the build up to the World Cup. The team that wins will need a little bit of luck, they will need to take their chances and they will have to have the strength and stamina to get through the 30 days of training and games. Brazil have the technique and the creativity, sure, but there are also teams like England and Spain . . . it will not be easy.”
Brazil coach Dunga, meanwhile, said much the same as he fielded more questions from Brazilian press corps whose bark has been softened by so many good results. Doubtless, he is aware of how quickly things will change in the event things do not go well in South Africa but last night he looked supremely comfortable in the knowledge his side will head into the World Cup undefeated in five games and, rather more impressively, having lost just once in 24 outings.
“The world will say that Brazil and Spain will be favourites but every time Brazil goes to a World Cup we are amongst the favourites. Maybe we should be surprised that it’s the case this time because I keep on reading that all of our players are playing poorly in Europe. We shall see, though. What happens in June and July, that’s what matters.
“Tonight we are happy, though. It has been three and a half years that we have been working to develop this team. They won the Confederations Cup, they play well and they score goals. Everyone helps when they need to defend and everyone helps when they need to attack. This was a very satisfying match because they all showed what they can do. There is no reason not to be happy after a game like that.”
