A rainy night in at the Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liege, Belgium brought the curtain down on a fine season for the Azzurri, however it was not the result that everyone, including Trapattoni had been expecting.
Despite dominating possession for the vast majority of the game Italy could not break through a stubborn Irish defence and were made to pay for their lack of goal scoring opportunities by two good goals from Keith Andrews and substitute Simon Cox.
Azzurri boss Cesare Prandelli, took this friendly as an opportunity to size himself up against someone he believes to be one of the best in the business. He played under Trapattoni at Juventus for six years during the late 1970’s and early 80’s, and pre-match he wasted no time in extolling the virtues of a man he considers a mentor.
“He is a legend. In the six years I was at Juve he gave me so much and not only from a human standpoint. Even when you played cards you needed to be focused. All of his lessons I still carry with me as a coach.”
Trapattoni, turned down a chance to return to manage the Azzurri in 2008 when instead he decided to opt for the fresh challenge of managing the Republic Of Ireland. Il Trap has managed against his homeland twice with both games ending in draws as part of Ireland’s ultimately unsuccessful attempt to qualify for the World Cup finals in South Africa.
Several changes were made by both teams from their last match and the game gave the opportunity for some of the second string players to stake their claim for a regular place in the Euro 2012 qualifying starting XI.
Record goalscorer Robbie Keane was rested for the Men in Green and in his absence Hull City’s Paul McShane took over the armband duties. Millwall keeper David Forde came in for his full debut and could not of dreamed of such an easy and relaxing evening.
Prandelli dropped Cassano and brought in Pazzini to start. Nocerino replaced the injured Alberto Aquilani as part of a host of changes from last week’s 3-0 victory over Estonia.
The pattern for the match was set in the first few minutes as Italy controlled the play and Ireland were happy to concede possession but close down quickly and deny their opponents time and space.
For all of the ball that Italy managed to have they rarely threatened Forde’s goal and were mainly reduced to speculative 30-yard shots from Nocerino. With a crowded midfield area the outlets for the Azzurri were Cassani and Criscito who found themselves with plenty of space and time to make inroads into the Irish defence, however on the vast majority of occasions the final ball did not match the build up play. This theme continued throughout the game.
Against the run of play, on 34 minutes, Ireland found themselves with a free kick 30 yards from goal. Stephen Hunt tapped the ball to Andrews who took two touches before rifling a right-footed shot into the bottom right corner of the Azzurri second choice keeper Emiliano Viviano. He would have quieter night than Forde, but he still ended up picking the ball out of his next on two occasions. Despite this setback Italy continued as if nothing had happened and continued to try and find a way through this resolute defence.
If Ireland were happy and surprised to be a goal ahead at the back then Prandelli was clearly not amused as he used the half-time interval to replace the ineffective Juve new man Andrea Pirlo and the bright, but starved of quality ball, Giuseppe Rossi. On came Sampdoria midfielder Angelo Palombo and Juve striker Alessandro Matri.
Straight away Matri was in the action with his run down the left flank bringing a foul from defender Shaun St Ledger. Sadly the ball in from the resulting free-kick fell straight into the arms of, the finally excited to be involved, David Forde.
Following two wretched corners from Pirlo in the first half, it appeared that Palombo had caught the same “hit the first man” virus that accounted for Pirlo’s early exit. His crosses had much the same result.
Sensing the need to pep things up a bit, Prandelli brought on Gilardino for Pazzini and Parma’s brilliant young attacker Sebastian Giovinco, for the shoot-on-sight Nocerino, to add some urgency and create a few more chances. He was at the heart of everything thing that was good about Italy’s play for the next 15 minutes or so as his teammates tried to get the ball to him at every opportunity.
It was Giovinco who came closest to a deserved equaliser but his 30-yard free kick flew inches over the crossbar on 70 minutes. More substitutions took place but the end result for the Azzurri was still the same.quality in possession and disappointing in final delivery.
A counter attack break on 89 minutes sealed Italy’s first defeat in nine games as a long ball from impressive Wolves defender Stephen Ward set up his namesake Hunt who crossed for West Brom striker Simon Cox to slide in at the far post.
Overall Italy deserved much better but they failed to create any real clear-cut chances that their possession deserved. Ireland will be delighted with only their 2 win against Italy and the 72 year old Trappatoni will be happy to show his apprentice who the master is.
Join Forza Italian Football on Twitter and Facebook.
