Prandelli hoped to avoid Trap's Ireland

ONE thing that was clear from the reaction of the other three managers in Group C as they spoke yesterday in the wake of the Euro 2012 draw was an undeniable respect for Irish manager Giovanni Trapattoni.
 

The Italian will be 73 by the time the big show of next summer comes into focus, but he'll once again strut his stuff on the sideline with the other top managers in the international game again. In his group, Vicente del Bosque has won the recent World Cup and the last Euros, while Italian coach Cesere Prandelli has been steadily rising in the game and Slaven Bilic has done extremely well in guiding Croatia into the top ten of FIFA's World Rankings.
 

But the grand old man, Trapattoni, was in his element yesterday in Kiev, where the draw pitted his Irish team against the last two World Cup winners and an improving Croatia side.
 

Trap had said beforehand that it was his wish to avoid Italy. With just two balls left in the drum, however, it was either Italy or England. One man who was wishing that Ireland would be handed a tie against the old enemy was Italian coach Cesere Prandelli.
 

"It is a very difficult group and we didn't want to meet Trapattoni for many reasons," said the Italian chief yesterday.
 

"I have no problem playing against Spain or Germany or Holland. My problem is Ireland because of Trap.
 

"Please, please, I said, I don't want to play against him.  I don't want to play against the maestro. He is my teacher. Almost everything I've learned in football, I learned it from him.
 

"I like to speak with him, to learn from him and to eat with him, but not to play against him. I really did not want to be drawn against Ireland."
 

Croatian manager Slaven Bilic saw his team held 0-0 in Dublin by Trap's Ireland earlier this year in a friendly.
 

The 43-year old is one of the youngest managers in international football, but the former West Ham and Everton defender can't wait to pit his wits against the more experienced European coaches.
"It is a tough group," Bilic assessed.
 

"I am privileged to be among those generals of football. Among the people who created the history of the game. I can't wait to play against them. We're going to give everything."
 

Before that game in Dublin, Bilic famously remarked that he listened to The Pogues to prepare him in Zagreb. Yesterday, Bilic was a little less jovial, though he noted a great respect for the Irish.
 

He said: "I respect Ireland because of their quality, spirit, their fans and a great manager."
 

Bilic was optimistic about his team's chances of advancing from the group. "We are looking forward. We have real possibilities and a real chance to pass the group stage."
 

World and European champion del Bosque was rather less dramatic than Prandelli in his assessment of Ireland and Trap.
 

Remembering the World Cup game in 2002, del Bosque has urged Spain to be professional in their approach to the Irish game.
 

"I remember in 2002 we were winning 1-0 and in the last minute Niall Quinn won a penalty from which Ireland equalised. And we could have lost the game in extra-time before winning on penalties," he said.
 

"They will be a difficult rival. Can Ireland cause a shock? Of course. "They will be well prepared and you can't say that they are an inferior rival because this isn't the case."
 

Asked about Trap's style of play, which is likely to be ultra-defensive against the Spaniards, del Bosque wasn't getting into a war of words. He said: "It's a strong national team. We must think they are as worthy a rival as the others. I have no problems with Ireland's style, and we're not going to change ours because of the players we have."