Trap & Keane confident ahead of Croatia clash

The Republic of Ireland squad have had their final training session and press conference in Poznan ahead of Sunday’s Group C opening match with Croatia.

Manager Giovanni Trapattoni started the press conference by stating that when he first assessed the facilities in Poznan that  ”there was lots of work to do.  But the work has been carried out and we are confident that the facilities can contribute to our successes.”

When asked if he was aware of the gap in age between himself and Slaven Bilic and if there would be a generational gap between the two men’s outlooks, Trapattoni replied, “Each goal I want to reach is a new goal for my career.  I have the same concentration and use the same details as ever before.   I am really grateful to the Irish people because they believe in my project.   I do not want to talk about the World Cup and the France play-off, but we gave them a great game. I think for me and Marco (Tardelli – the Republic’s assistant manager), as Italians it is important that we give the Irish people what they want.”

Trapattoni, 73, talked of the supposed  ”clash of generations”  between himself and Croatia manger Slaven Bilic, who is 30 years his senior.  

“One of the most critical aspects is:   ‘No matter what the age, those who achieve their goals are those who remain young and keep continuing.   This is my goal, to keep going for new goals.   Annielli the former Juventus President;  in order to be understood, said ‘do not stick to your age and just follow the norm.’   This is a quoted sentence.  The most important thing is the human being basically.   I know this man (Annielli) very well – he is a very serious person and attitude does matter, the sentence I quoted is from a great character.  The most important people present themselves on the pitch.”

Questioning then moved to Robbie Keane who was asked to compare the feelings between when he first played in a major international tournament back in 2002 and today.  The 31 year-old replied, “I think it’s been a long time coming.  When you’re a young lad as I was back in 2002, you think it’ll keep happening but it doesn’t and we had to work harder.   When you get older you get wiser and you learn the game better.  I’m now older and wiser and things like unnecessary running I have cut back on.

“We are not here to make up the numbers.   We know it won’t be easy but being with the lads for three weeks now, there is loads of belief and we feel we can get out of this Group, even though it is one of the most difficult in the whole competition.  This game is very important to the whole country.  We are playing a team that are similar to us and we will look to get points on the board as soon as possible.”

With the press conference about to finish, Giovanni Trapattoni was asked if he was sure of his starting XI for the Sunday night’s game.  The Italian replied confidently. 

"Fortunately there are no injuries and after the last training session (on Friday in Gdynia) I can say there are no injuries.  This first match will be very, very tough.  We will do everything we can to get a good result.  As I said before, maybe I was misunderstood, we will play with Given, O’Shea, St. Ledger, Ward, did I say Dunne?!!!  Whelan, Andrews, McGeady , Duff and Robbie together with Kevin Doyle."

The final question was left for the nation’s all-time leading goalscorer who was asked how he felt about the fact that Croatia could be missing a few key players for Sunday’s game.  The man who has scored three goals at the World Cup finals echoed the feelings of all Irish fans.  

“We all know that Croatia have plenty of quality players who are capable of replacing those that are missing.  Luca Modric is one of their best players and I know him well but I hope we come off the pitch tomorrow and that I shake hands with him with us having taken the three points.”