SOCCER EURO 2012:IT MAY look to be a far cry from what he was believed to be angling for in the first place, but Giovanni Trapattoni was all smiles after Uefa decided Ireland's Euro 2012 fixture list by way of a lottery in Tel Aviv yesterday.

There were none of the hoped for away double headers or the glamour competitive kick-off to life at the Aviva while the trip to Skopje must be negotiated at just about the hottest time of the year possible, but the veteran Italian still hailed the schedule as highly satisfactory upon hearing it yesterday afternoon.

“The draw is very good,” he said. “I think the first away game in Armenia is like the game the last time against Georgia, and then Andorra at home. For me it is a very, very good start because in September our players are fit and for me, these three games: Armenia away, Andorra and then in October Russia at home . . . I think they give us the opportunity to gain an advantage. I hope we do, it is a possibility.”

After what is a relatively soft start, though, the visit of Russia to Dublin in October followed quickly by the trip to Bratislava would suggest that those will be crucial days to Ireland’s hopes of qualifying for the finals.

The team’s last competitive encounters with the two sides both ended in draws and Trapattoni will be anxious that the Irish do better than just two points this time around.

Whatever happens, though, they will kick off 2011 with a visit by the Macedonians in late March after which the team must embark on a run in that is effectively a perfect mirror image of their campaign’s first half by heading for Skopje just as the summer temperatures are kicking in.

When Scotland lost there in September 2008 heat was certainly a factor and while it might be argued that early June is a better time to visit, there really isn’t too much in it with daily high temperatures around that time routinely the high 20s and sometimes creeping significantly above 30 degrees.

The only consolation is that broadcasters aiming to cater for an Irish audience are likely to push for the game, scheduled for one of only two Saturdays to be used over the course of the campaign, to take place relatively late in the evening which, given the one-hour time difference would make for peak-time viewing in Ireland.

Early autumn will then bring critically important return games against Slovakia and Russia after which there is the very real prospect of the side taking six points out of six, if it all still matters, from the trip to Andorra and the visit to Dublin of Armenia.

The real concern on the away trip front, however, is the failure to group even two of the longer journeys – Moscow, Yerevan, Skopje and Bratislava – into a tidy double header.

In fact, Skopje is the only one of the four destinations that does not have to be visited immediately after a home game and, while the switch from Saturdays to Fridays for most weekend games during this campaign will be of some help, the combinations look less than ideal despite the manager’s rather upbeat appraisal.

“Our players are used to it with their clubs,” he insists. “Normally they play Wednesday and Saturday, they come back immediately to their clubs. They can be travelling for hours after games. Our flights will only be three or four hours.

“I have experience and I can give them a little rest in the two or three days between games and prepare for the team for the next games. I am not afraid of this situation with flights because every player is used to playing Saturday and Wednesday. I have had many teams in this situation, we had two or three days before the next game and we were okay.”

Trapattoni acknowledges that the clashes with Russia and Slovakia will be crucial, but is adamant that the Irish must make the most of the less challenging games so as to get themselves into a strong position early on.

“These games will be important but we must arrive at them with an advantage,” observes the veteran Italian. “We believe we could be potentially in a good position going into the first Russia home game and then the second time we play in September 2011.

“After that, we have Andorra away and Armenia at home, it will be a good opportunity to finish the group well. But the important thing is to have the advantage going into those games.

“I think this draw is difficult but I think it is a better draw than the last World Cup. I think the last one was definitely harder with the likes of Italy and then Montengro and Bulgaria games falling at potentially difficult times.

“We’re not under estimating the opposition, Slovakia are a big threat and going to the World Cup, but there were some quite difficult fixtures in the last campaign and this one is easier.

“I think the one thing we have now is a huge belief in our ability. It is clear from the beginning when we played Georgia until now, we’ve made enormous steps forward. You look at how we faced up to Bulgaria, Montengro, Italy and then France and lately Brazil, you can see this is a team that believes in itself and that will serve us well going into the qualification programme.”

Group B

Republic of Ireland’s Fixtures

2010 Friday, Sep 3rd (away) v Armenia

Tuesday, Sep 7th (home) v Andorra

Friday, Oct 8th (home) v Russia

Tuesday, Oct 12th (away) v Slovakia

2011 Saturday, Mar 26th (home) v Macedonia

Saturday, Jun 4th (away) v Macedonia

Friday, Sep 2nd (home) v Slovakia

Tuesday, Sep 6th (away) v Russia

Friday, Oct 7th (away) v Andorra

Tuesday, Oct 11th (home) v Armenia

Other Group Fixtures

2010: Fri, Sep 3rd – Andorra v Russia, Slovakia v Macedonia. Tue, Sep 7th – Russia v Slovakia, Macedonia v Armenia. Fri, Oct 8th – Armenia v Slovakia, Andorra v Macedonia. Tue, Oct 12th – Armenia v Andorra, Macedonia v Russia. 2011: Sat, Mar 26th – Andorra v Slovakia, Russia v Armenia. Sat, Jun 4th – Armenia v Russia, Slovakia v Andorra. Fri, Sep 2nd – Andorra v Armenia, Russia v Macedonia. Tue, Sep 6th – Slovakia v Armenia, Macedonia v Andorra. Fri, Oct 7th – Armenia v Macedonia, Slovakia v Russia. Tue, Oct 11th – Russia v Andorra, Macedonia v Slovakia.