Trap eyeing up clashes with 'the big teams'

Giovanni Trapattoni has hailed qualification for Euro 2012 with Ireland as being right up there with his greatest achievements – and the wily Italian can't wait to do touchline battle with his European peers again next summer.


He has won the European Cup, the UEFA Cup, Super Cup and League titles in Italy, Germany, Portugal and Austria, but the 72-year old could hardly contain his delight after guiding Ireland to next summer's big show.


Trap will go toe-to-toe now with the likes of Fabio Capello, Cesare Prandelli, Joachim Low, Bert van Marwijk and Vicente del Bosque – just the way he likes it.


He's instilled a real belief in this Irish team that has given the veteran coach a new lease of football life.


“After one year, we said we had to believe because we are not the last country in football,” Trapattoni said.


“For me, I have been lucky in my life because I play football, I play in the famous team, in Milan. I coach with Juventus, with Milan, Inter, Bayern, Benfica. I was lucky, but the last result is fantastic, but now the next result is the Europeans. We have to continue to have this mentality.”


Ireland will be fourth seeds in the December 2nd draw, but Trapattoni says that the boys in green have already proven themselves to be capable of competing with Europe's big guns.


He said: “All is possible in football. The players believe, they make not 100 per cent commitment but 200.
 

“All is possible. No-body denies us our dreams and we have to believe.”

Ireland will be underdogs to advance next summer, but with a team that has proven to be extremely hard to breach under Trapattoni's reign, the manager clearly believes that his men are capable of shaking things up.
 

“Many years ago in a World Cup, usually we would say that the South American teams were stronger...but, Germany, England, Greece, Spain, Russia, Italy, Netherlands,” he responded animatedly.


“I really want to try and play these big teams. The players must think that we are on the same level as the other teams. Maybe over 10 games, no, but in 90 minutes, maybe.


“I became famous because of the players who played against the famous players – Platini, Eusebio, Pele, Cruyff. I was the underdog. The media spoke about me, but I always said 'I am not famous, they are the christars'. They were the great players.

“Why not dream? In 90 minutes, all is possible. In 90 minutes, why not?”


Trapattoni's Ireland is an outfit with the sum of its parts having a greater weight than the individual – and his rigid unit could be hard to topple in what will be the country's second European finals.


Trapattoni said: “Every winning team will grow their identity and their personality with our quality. We don't have super-creative players, but we are a team.


“We have a team with heart, with technicality. Modern is always over-used in football. Football is football – there is only one ball.”


The Irish style has come under the microscope lately and the debate wrangles on about how successful, or otherwise, it will prove to be in the finals – but Trapattoni insists his team will stick to the tried and trusted method that has guided them to the Promised Land.


He said: “Style is show, it is beautiful. Messi is beautiful, but if Messi doesn't score a goal...the result is the result. Style is great because it shows the player's creativity, but today a team with organisation can get the same result because they show resolve.


“It is important to have structure in a team. Every team has a system that is different.


“We are not Barcelona, we are not Real and we are not the famous team.


“International football is different and it's important that the players believe. They have understood what we wanted for them and in four years we have lost only against France and Russia.”