Ireland can emulate Greek triumph

Giovanni Trapattoni expressed his pride after guiding Ireland to the Euro 2012 finals and declared his side ready to emulate 2004 surprise champions Greece.

Ireland secured qualification for its first major finals since the 2002 World Cup with a 1-1 draw against Estonia on Tuesday, rounding off a comprehensive 5-1 aggregate victory against Tarmo Ruutli’s men.

Stephen Ward scored the goal that had the 51,151 Dublin crowd in raptures, and Konstantin Vassiljev’s second-half leveller was merely a brief break in the lively celebrations.

Trapattoni, in charge of Ireland since 2008, basked in the glory after the final whistle and admitted there were no limits to what his charges could achieve next summer.

“I hope only that we have no injuries and no suspensions,” said the 72-year-old Italian, who is regarded as one of the most successful coaches in Serie A history.

“It would be good that we have new options to come in but it’s important that we have the basis of our first team available for the finals.

“With this group though, why not (match Greece)? It’s not a dream.”

Trapattoni – whose previous international experience with Italy from 2000-2004 was a rare failure – is set to land a new contract, having achieved qualification two years after a controversial defeat to France in the 2010 World Cup play-off.

The Italian never lost faith in his team, and was fulsome in his praise of the players.

“I am very, very proud for many reasons,” he said.

“First, we (him and assistant Marco Tardelli) have come here with an important objective and aim and while we were in a difficult group last time (2010 campaign) we could have achieved qualification. But we started again.

“We have started again with a new mentality and the players believe in our system.

“We have also discovered the second, important options in terms of players. They have shown how important they have been for us. We have improved our quality.

“This is the most important moment we have had,” he said, pointing to Tardelli, who scored a memorable goal in Italy’s 3-1 win over West Germany in the 1982 World Cup final.

“We don’t concede too many goals, we conceded against Estonia and drew but we still qualified. That is my only disappointment.

“But I told the players to remember their objective. Ninety minutes of football is another game.”

Qualification is likely to provide a huge boost to not only the FA of Ireland, debt-laden following the redevelopment of the Lansdowne Road stadium, but also to a public that bore the brunt of the larger financial collapse.