Cool heads and not anger will prevail, promises Trapattoni

Published on Tuesday 17 November 2009 21:49

GIOVANNI Trapattoni is confident his Republic of Ireland players will not allow their anger to boil over tonight as they attempt to dump France out of the World Cup.

There were a series of furious confrontations on the pitch at Croke Park on Saturday night as Ireland slipped to a 1-0 defeat in the first leg of their play-off encounter. The bust-ups were sparked by Lassana Diarra's comments to Keith Andrews – which he has since denied making – suggesting that the Republic's dream was at an end.

However, while the Real Madrid midfielder may have unwittingly provided the Irish with a little extra motivation, Trapattoni, who has hinted he will keep the same team as Saturday for tonight's game leaving Celtic's Aiden McGeady on the bench, has no fears that his players will lose their heads at the Stade de France.

He said: "I played football too and I know what happens. Players in games are always under pressure and sometimes, they don't know what happens in these moments. I am sure we and also the French players have forgotten all about it."

Captain Robbie Keane also insisted he and his team-mates would not allow their difference of opinion with Diarra to distract them from their mission.

Keane said: "As far as we are concerned, that's gone. It happened after the game. Of course, every player's reaction straight after would be: 'I didn't say this', or whatever. But that's just the way it is. It has obviously put a bit of fuel to the fire, but we can't be going into the game thinking about Diarra or the comments he made. We have to concentrate on the job at hand, and we will certainly be doing that."

That said, the Irish would like nothing better than to provide Diarra with the perfect response by cancelling out the lead Nicolas Anelka's goal gave France in Dublin and then overhauling it to take their place in South Africa. Few outside of Ireland will give them any great hope, but that will be the focus of the men in green as they attempt to upset the odds.

Keane said: "We can't be worried about what happened before. I don't think we need anything to be up for this game. We know what's at stake at the end of it and we will certainly be up for it as players. Regardless of what anyone else said or what anyone else did, we would be up for this game. I keep saying it, but I have been fortunate enough to play in one and I am desperate to play in another World Cup."

Ireland know they will have to score once and probably at least twice to stand a chance of going through in Paris. They did register in four of their five away games during their qualifying group, and although Trapattoni's favoured approach is based on defensive resilience from front to back, he is confident they can do so once again.

He said: "We cannot lose our heads in this situation – we need to be calm – but I will not sit on the bench without trying everything. We can't let the game finish and not get a result because I haven't changed things.

"But we must not forget, in many, many finals in the World Cup or the Champions League, the very important games, there are not many goals – 1-0, 1-0, 1-0. In the very important games, teams do not score three, four or five goals. It's very, very difficult.

"We still have 90 minutes to play. I have told the players they must believe we can do it and achieve this qualification."

Meanwhile, Gregory Coupet has hailed his successor as France No1, Hugo Lloris, a "phenomenon" after the Lyon goalkeeper's clean sheet against the Republic of Ireland put Les Bleus on the brink of the World Cup finals.

"Lloris is a phenomenon," said the 36-year-old. "Lyon owes him a lot already for their third place last season. Due to his strengths and what he has done against Ireland, the choice is made on Hugo Lloris. He is playing well at the moment and there is no reason to change. At one point, it is important to elect a number one."

Noel Le Graet, vice-president of the French football federation, insists failure to qualify for South Africa would have no financial impact on the body.

"It changes nothing," he said. "All existing contracts with our sponsors or partners are signed up to June 2010."