Il Trap
Current
Republic of Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni spent the last 39 years in
management, having been an Italian international who featured prominently in
the Milan team from 1958-1971. He knew only great success as a
defender/defensive midfielder with the Rossoneri,
winning both Serie A and the European Cup twice.
His
early forays into coaching saw him take the Milan youth side for two years, following
a short-term spell with Varese at the end of his playing days. Trapattoni also
had a spell as caretaker coach of the first-team squad late in 1974-75. A year
later, he was handed the reins on a permanent basis.
Juventus
called for his services in 1976, heralding the beginning of a trophy-laden ten
years in charge of the Turin giants. Trapattoni’s typically-Italian defensive
strategy paid huge dividends as the Bianconeri
polished off every domestic and UEFA European competition open to them. Il Trap delivered a remarkable six
league titles, two Italian Cup triumphs, two UEFA Cups and one each of the Cup
Winners’ Cup, European Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup, cementing his
status as one of the greatest managers in the history of Italian football.
His
side would sit back and look to exploit opposition weaknesses with the supreme quality
available to Trapattoni at the time, including Scirea, Bettega, Platini and
Dino Zoff. It was a wonderful collection of players and they swept all before
them with the shrewd leadership of their head coach pivotal to that success.
A
five-year stint at former club Milan’s arch-rivals Internazionale began in 1986
and the trophies continued to flow. They earned the Italian league championship
in 1989 (Inter would wait a hugely frustrating 17 years for the next Scudetto) and the UEFA Cup in 1991.
Back to Juventus he went, but three years at the helm produced just one UEFA Cup victory in 1993. The old adage 'you should never go back' seemed to ring true for Trap, as Juve struggled to repeat previous feats under their returning hero.
Trapattoni
transported his talents to Germany for one campaign with Bavarian behemoth Bayern
Munich, before returning to Italy with Sardinian side Cagliari. It was a
curious switch considering the level of major clubs he’d took responsibility
for previously. Again, the link-up lasted only a year, before a return to
Bayern.
It
turned out to be a triumphant resumption of his German adventure when capturing
the Bundesliga shield in his first season back. The second campaign only
yielded the German Cup, leading to an acrimonious exit amid a row with several
of his players, whom he claimed were not pulling their weight.
Two
years at Fiorentina led to a tenure with the Italian national team, taking over
from his former Juve goalkeeper Dino Zoff as head coach. It was low-point for
Trapattoni, as he bore the brunt of the blame for Italy’s early exits from both
the 2002 World Cup and 2004 European Championship.
Marcello
Lippi was next in line for the position after the Euros just as he'd been at Juve in 1994, while Trap seized another opportunity abroad
with Lisbon legends Benfica. The highly-experienced coach duly led Benfica to their
first league title in 11 years during a solitary season in charge at the
Stadium of Light.
At
the end of that superb year in Portugal, the former Milan man made clear his
intention to return to his native Italy for family reasons. So, it was somewhat
surprising that he turned up back in Germany with Stuttgart a month later!
It
was an unhappy spell that ended just short of eight months into the job; senior
players were openly criticising Trapattoni’s well-worn style of play and the
spirit within the camp was becoming unbearable.
With
age creeping up on the wily old fox, he chose to take a role behind the scenes
as director of football at Red Bull Salzburg in Austria. The ambitious club,
fuelled by the funds of the energy drink giant, brought in Lothar Matthaus as
coach to work under the elder statesman. Despite winning the league in their
first season together, the board of directors fired German legend Matthaus and
replaced him with Thorsten Fink.
An
offer from the Republic of Ireland came out of the blue in February of that
second season in Salzburg and Trapattoni agreed to become the new head coach in
Dublin at the end of the Austrian league campaign. It was another opportunity
to test himself at international level after an inglorious spell in charge of
Italy.
Ireland’s
expectations were vastly different to those of his own country, with
qualification for major tournaments the only requirement; beyond that, anything
else was a bonus.
The
former Juve and Inter supremo took the Irish within a whisker of the 2010 World
Cup when a controversial extra-time goal by Thierry Henry in the second leg of
the qualification play-off led to their missing out on the finals. Henry
handled the ball before knocking it home, but the officials seemed the only
people in the Stade de France that didn’t see the infringement. The strike
denied Ireland and Trapattoni a place at the World Cup in South Africa, much to
the chagrin of the boss.
They
made up for that bitter disappointment by winning a Euro 2012 play-off
resoundingly 5-1 against minnows Estonia. Unfortunately, Ireland were handed a
tough draw with Spain and Italy and left the tournament proper at the group
stage. Trapattoni’s defensive leanings again came under fire from press and
fans alike due to the meek fashion of their exit.
Now
74 years old, Trapattoni has his sights set on a spot at Brazil 2014. The team currently
sit joint on points with rivals Sweden and Austria in the battle for second place
behind group favourites Germany. With four games to play, the Irish remain
firmly in contention for a place at the forthcoming World Cup, which would allow
them to finally banish the painful memories of Paris.
For
Trap, qualification would be the crowning glory of a majestic career littered with golden moments.
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