Soccer

Trap facts

Born March 17th, 1939 in Cusano Milanino, Italy the 74-year-old Trapattoni had a successful player career with AC Milan

Giovanni Trapattoni and FAI chief Executive John Delaney at Galway Races in 2008. Photograph: Eric Luke/The Irish Times
Giovanni Trapattoni and FAI chief Executive John Delaney at Galway Races in 2008. Photograph: Eric Luke/The Irish Times
Wed Sept 11 2013 - 14:15

- Born March 17, 1939 in Cusano Milanino, Italy.

- The 74-year-old Trapattoni had a successful player career with AC Milan, before turning to management.

PLAYING CAREER

- Trapattoni, who operated as a defender or defensive midfielder, made 274 appearances for AC Milan between 1959 and 1971. He then spent a season at Varese before retiring.

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- Capped 17 times by Italy, Trapattoni played the majority of his games for the national side at centre back and featured in the 1962 World Cup in Chile.

COACHING DEBUT

- Trapattoni was named as youth-team coach at Milan in 1974, before being appointed first-team coach in 1975.

- A move to Juventus as head coach followed a year later and he spent 10 years in Turin, winning the Serie A title six times and all three of the major UEFA club competitions.

- Trapattoni left Juventus in 1986 to manage Internazionale, before returning to Juve. He went on to have two spells in charge of Bayern Munich, as well as stints at Cagliari and Fiorentina.

INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT

- In July 2000, Trapattoni took over the Italian national side and guided them to the 2002 World Cup where they were knocked out in the last 16 by hosts South Korea.

- Trapattoni stayed on as manager and qualified for the 2004 European Championship but his side went out in the group stages.

- After losing his job in charge of Italy, Trapattoni returned to club management with Benfica, Vfb Stuttgart and Red Bull Salzburg, before Ireland came calling in 2008.

- Under Trapattoni, Ireland narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 2010 World Cup when they lost a controversial playoff against France. Thierry Henry handled the ball in the build-up to a William Gallas goal which put the French through 2-1 on aggregate.

- Trapattoni’s Ireland qualified for the 2012 European Championship but they were eliminated at the group stage after losing every game.

- Trapattoni’s task of getting Ireland to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil started brightly with a 2-1 victory over Kazakhstan in qualifying but they struggled for consistency and were hammered 6-1 by Germany.

- Defeats by Sweden and Austria this month effectively ended Ireland’s hopes of qualifying and Trapattoni left the Irish team by mutual consent.

Reuters