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News : Trapattoni Takes Irish Soccer Job The Football
Association of Ireland’s (FAI) protracted search for a coach to
take over the international soccer team finally ended with the appointment
of former Italian national team boss Giovanni Trapattoni. The FAI had
become the butt of many jokes in their meandering search for a successor
to Steve Staunton, who they fired four months ago, but after 113 days
Trapattoni was unveiled.
The Italian’s credentials are well established. He has managed club
sides to domestic honors in Italy, Germany, Portugal and currently in
Austria where he manages the Salzburg Red Bull team. He also took charge
of the national team in Italy in 2000 but was fired four years later when
the team performed poorly. Yet he is still highly regarded in the game,
and while at 68 years of age – he was born on St. Patrick’s
Day in 1939 -– he is not in his prime but remains very fit and characteristically
passionate about the game.
However, the appointment was shrouded in controversy when it was revealed
that businessman Denis O’Brien contributed half the reported salary
of 1.5 million euro in an effort to attract a top soccer manager to the
job. O’Brien, a tax exile and a major player across Irish media
interests, insists his generosity was simply an effort to land a top-class
manager and that his role in the appointment had no strings attached.
FAI executives also insist O’Brien had no input on the selection
process.
Ireland was rudderless for a prestigious friendly game against Brazil,
one of the most glamorous sides in world soccer. The Brazilians came to
Croke Park on a dull January night and won 1-0 in a game that caretaker
manager Don Givens and the capacity crowd would rather forget.
Trapattoni’s first game in charge will be a friendly in Dublin on
May 24 against Serbia. The real action will start in September with visits
to Georgia and Montenegro as World Cup 2010 qualifying kicks off. For
the new boss the immediate aim will be to qualify for the tournament in
South Africa. The Irish team has fallen steadily over the past five years,
and with few world-class players at Trapattoni’s disposal, instant
success will be a tall order.
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