KEITH DUGGANreports on an eventful week in Montecatini as Ireland prepare to leave Trapattoni's world and head to Budapest for another tough test on the road to Poland
SMALL GOLD plaques are studded into the red brick footpath that leads from the Piazza del Popolo, the place where it all happens in Montecatini. They are inscribed with the names of some of the most famous visitors to the old spa town in what serves as a classier, understated version of Hollywood’s walk of fame.
Some of the greatest names in music have been honoured: Verdi. Pavarotti. Hucknell. Robert De Niro was here once, talking Italian. And today, the name of Giovanni Trapattoni will be added to the cast, in recognition of his long association with the town and with his decision to bring his Irish team here. For Trapattoni, this slow-burning summer week in Tuscany is leading inexorably towards the match which could provide a fitting aria for his long, glittering football life when he will lead the Republic of Ireland into what could be a crucial group game in Poznan against his beloved Italy.
If Trapattoni wanted to show something of himself and his country to his players in choosing Italy as his base, then Montecatini didn’t let him down.
The welcome afforded to the Irish team was low key and genuine. The players are free to stroll around the streets in the evening completely unbothered.
They have golfed, sampled the cultural delights of Florence, rested well and trained hard in a venue that is simple and has a flawless training surface.
If the entire schedule had been drawn up with all the lessons of Saipan in mind, it could not have been more different to the training camp of a decade ago.
In Richard Dunne’s laconic remark when Sky television stopped him for a few words after Tuesday night’s friendly game, “It’s been nice – apart from the earthquake.”
When the first tremors rippled through the town on Tuesday morning and it was established that there had, in fact, been an earthquake, John Delaney and the rest of the FAI officials could have been forgiven for thinking that at least they couldn’t be blamed for this one.
It took a few hours before the gravity of the disaster was confirmed and for a short while, the idea of the Irish team in an earthquake seemed slightly farcical. A fair number of the press contingent confessed later on that they slept right through the quake. Others noticed a racket but believed themselves to be caught up in nothing more fatal than a robust demonstration of amorous affection in one of the neighbouring rooms. Yet others fretted about their lack of decisiveness in the crucial minutes. As one confession went: “I wasn’t sure what to do so I hopped into the bidet.”
Hotel staff and locals seemed completely blasé about the 30-second tremors, which made people suppose they were common occurrences in the locality. It was only later, when the first pictures were broadcast on BBC world news and news of fatalities that there had been a loss of life that the seriousness of what had happened registered. The tragedy prompted the cancellation of Italy’s friendly game with Luxembourg scheduled for Parma that night but was recognised with a minute’s silence when Ireland played a Tuscan selection on Tuesday evening.
By then, the exclusion of Kevin Foley from Trapattoni’s final squad had caused the first stirrings of controversy on the trip. Foley’s departure on Wednesday morning and Trapattoni’s growing frustration with the questions put to him about it provided an undercurrent of tension in the coming days. Foley’s distress on Tuesday night and his use of the word ‘betrayed’ heightened the emotion and left his peers in the squad with conflicted feelings: delight that were on their way to Poland and genuine empathy for their friend.
“I am sure his emotions at the moment are taking over,” Sean St Ledger said after training on Thursday when asked about it.
“I am sure that at home he will have a word with his family and talk it over and I am sure he will make the right decision. And I think you just have to respect that if he doesn’t want to. I think all the boys want him to [make himself available in future] because he is a great lad and he is a very good player at the same time. The injury may just have come at the wrong time. He obviously proved his fitness but the manager made his decision and you just have to go with it.
“I think Kevin dealt with it really well and in a dignified manner. It was obviously very tough for him. It was a tough decision for the manager. And football is a cruel game. But obviously congratulations to Paul. He obviously came into the squad not thinking he would get here. But now he has and he has to try and make the most of the opportunity.”
And so the strange spectacle on Tuesday night, when Foley and McShane shared the same pitch in the second half against the Pistoiese side for what must have been the most low-key and quaint warm-up game for any of the teams in the finals.
The occasion could not have been further removed from the noise and crowds and hype of the Premier League: for all of the players, it must have been a trip back to their days playing underage games or reserve games in obscure grounds in front of nobody. But they didn’t play as if they were above it: impressing Trapattoni rather than the local crowd was the imperative for the fringe players and as St Ledger pointed out, the Tuscan team made them work a little.
“They weren’t that bad, to be fair. I would give them credit for the way they actually tried to play it from the back. I know that if that was in England playing against league one or league two, they are smashing it forward for the big man so you know, you have to give them credit. And as easy as the score makes it sound it was a decent work out and it was still very warm so again, it was another decent chance to get used to the conditions.”
Foley’s departure the following morning did demonstrate one thing: the Irish squad gets on well together. For Robbie Keane and the other veterans of the Saipan meltdown, the debate over Foley was just a ripple: it was tough; Trapattoni had made a hard call and that was it. For St Ledger, though, the acute disappointment felt by Foley made a strong impression.
“I’ve never been involved in something so heart-wrecking really. Mmmh . . . But you know football throws those things up and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone: to be announced in the 23 and for that to happen, it is soul-destroying for him. It is tough because everyone really, really likes him. And everyone feels for him. If it was me, I would be absolutely gutted and obviously he was very emotional. So it is a tough one to call.”
And as Giovanni Trapattoni repeated during his pitch-side interviews, it was his call to make: with 24 players arriving in Italy on Sunday night and a squad of 23 named on Tuesday, plain mathematics pointed to the fact that someone was in for a disappointment. Lessons from yesteryear had prompted him not to bring a bigger preliminary squad as it would have meant leaving more players disappointment. But as the week closed it was unclear if Foley, with six caps in eight years, would be too disillusioned to make himself available to Ireland again or his international career had ended in that hollow way.
For McShane, who returned to the squad with no expectations, the summer has taken a radical reversal.
“I have a few lads say congratulations but I want to keep a lid on it. I talked to Kevin about it. I just said: ‘What can I say?’ I am sorry to hear about it. There were no hard feelings. Kevin is a good lad and we just had to crack on.”
And for the next three days, training went smoothly. After the hour or so that they ran drills and one-touch games, the players headed back to the bus flushed and feeling the affects of the heat. The summer weather has always been a factor for Irish teams in major tournaments.
The sight of Jack Charlton issuing water bottles to his parched charges on the field in Orlando during USA ’94 became one of the famed images of that era. Tuscany at least gave the Irish a chance to acclimatise.
“It is very hot so it is quite draining,” St Ledger admitted.
“But it is obviously good preparation for what lies ahead in Poland. They said it is a bit warmer in Poland so it is obviously good preparation and it is nice to play in the sunshine.”
The sun was still shining yesterday evening as locals sat in the shade under trees and under café awnings, smoking cigarettes, eating ice-creams and drinking coffee and maybe nodding politely at the best known faces in Irish football if they happened to walk by but no more.
Maybe this visit was Trapattoni’s way of teaching his young players that there is an alternative to the cocooned life that many feel obliged to live in England and also to show them something of the Italian way. This evening, they will show up neat and proper to see the boss officially inducted into Montecatini’s eternal family.
They will applaud and have one last night and then get ready to leave this dreamy part of Trapattoni’s world where nothing much happens in a very pleasant way. Bound for Budapest.
“I keep having to pack my bags all the time, which is a nightmare,” sighed St Ledger.
“Squeezing stuff in. But the next test is Hungary and we go there trying to win the game and to keep our confidence high getting closer to the tournament.”
