No surprises for Trapattoni

Keane's misfiring evening attributed to lack of match action

Last updated: 4th September 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

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Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni was not surprised that his side struggled before winning 1-0 in Armenia.

The Republic opened their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign with a 1-0 victory thanks to Keith Fahey's 76th minute goal at Yerevan Republican Stadium.

Trapattoni's team were made to work hard for their success and goalkeeper Shay Given was kept busy by Group B underdogs Armenia.

Captain Robbie Keane could have eased nerves when wasting several excellent chances, but his manager was not surprised with the tough evening.

Trapattoni said: "I saw in the qualification for the World Cup that Armenia lost one or two games, but they played very, very well.

Important

"I think it will be not easy also for other teams coming here.

"Yesterday I said that this was not an easy game for two reasons: it was the first game and the weather was very hot for our players, who have played only one or two games so far this season.

"I knew it would be very, very difficult. I said I didn't know which game it would be, whether it would be possible to play well or possible not to play well, and it proved to be a very, very difficult game for us.

"But I think over the 90 minutes, we deserved to win the game. We had difficult situations in our defence and Shay Given had to make some important saves, but in the first half, Robbie Keane had two very good chances."

Keane skewed an eighth minute volley just wide and after having a goal disallowed for offside, hit the post with the sort of chance he has buried throughout his international career.

Conservative

However, Trapattoni insisted that his lack of football this season, he has made just two appearances as a substitute for Tottenham, has not left him lacking sharpness.

The Italian said: "He is a little bit injured at the moment, that's why I changed him. But he also created chances for us."

Trapattoni's critics often accuse him of taking a conservative approach, but having admitted last night that he would willingly take a 1-0 victory, he was satisfied with exactly that result.

He said: "It is not easy for a coach or manager to say before a game, 'we will win' because we have to respect our opponents. We must have respect for those opponents.

"I thought it would be possible to win this game, but so did the Armenian coach and we knew it would not be easy."

The win sets up Ireland perfectly for Tuesday's clash with minnows Andorra in Dublin.

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