Soccer:As confirmation came this morning of the Republic of Ireland's place among the top seeds for the Euro 2012 play-offs, Giovanni Trapattoni was in jovial mood when reflecting on a hitherto successful, if a little bumpy, qualification campaign.
A somewhat fortunate 2-1 win over Armenia at the Aviva Stadium last night was enough to secure second place in Group B and a two-legged winner takes all tie against one from Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia and Montenegro next month.
Portugal, Croatia and the Czech Republic are the other seeded teams and the draw will be made tomorrow afternoon (12pm) in Krakow, with the games scheduled for November 11th/12th and November 15th.
Trapattoni has no preference as to his side’s fate and rates all those in the hat, citing Armenia as an example of low profile but quality opposition and reminding fans that two games against Montenegro in the World Cup 2010 qualifiers ended scoreless.
“One team is the same as the other,” he said. “In their groups they were all second best. We played Montenegro before and they showed they were a good team with some very important players.
“But we saw last night that Armenia have no famous players really and yet they could also have achieved qualification.”
Despite reaching his second play-off in two campaigns, the manager was again asked about the quality of the performance last night. A sending off and an own goal contributed to a victory in which Richard Dunne got the winner but Ireland rarely looked convincing against their depleted opposition.
“We lost only one game in the qualifiers, to a good Russian side that qualified. You can criticise our performance but not the results.”
A prevalent theory, however, is that Trapattoni’s side have enjoyed a generous helping of luck throughout the campaign and the Italian took the suggestion on the chin this morning, embracing his good fortune rather than denying it.
“Napolean chose his generals because they were lucky not because they were brave. Through my life, thank God, I won many cups and championships and I can tell you that luck is good. Maybe the FAI chose me because I am lucky.”
The FAI will certainly be hoping it doesn’t run out just yet, but regardless of what happens they have a decision to make on the manager's future very soon. His contract expires after the play-offs but he insists he is focused on the short term and says talks can wait until the association, at least, knows what's in store for next summer.
“When the FAI is happy we can talk. If the FAI want to speak before the play-offs, we can speak before, if they want to speak after, we can speak after. For us (Trapattoni and assistant Marco Tardelli), it is not a problem.
Again, however, the 72-year-old offered a gentle reminder, as is his wont; that he will not be short of options.
“But if they are not happy this might be the last game for me. Not in my life, because I will be involved with other teams but not with the FAI.”
