Mick McCarthy has praised Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni for getting results since taking over with the national team. The current Ipswich Town boss told that while Ireland had a disappointing Euro 2012, just getting there was an achievement in itself.
McCarthy managed Ireland for six years between 1996 and 2002, taking the national team to the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea and reaching the second round, losing on penalties to Spain having escaped a group also containing Germany, Cameroon and Saudi Arabia. It was Ireland’s first World Cup appearance since 1994 and remains their last participation at the finals of the event.
Trapattoni is currently attempting to return Ireland to the World Cup, with qualifying for Brazil 2014 well underway. The Republic are third in Group C, behind Sweden and table-toppers Germany, having won two and lost one of their three games so far. McCarthy feels that while Trapattoni’s record is far from spectacular, there can be very little about which to complain aside from the scoreline against Germany.
“They have done what they had to do. They have won the two games that they should have won against Kazakhstan and the Faroe Islands. They lost to Germany, it wasn’t a good performance but losing to Germany is no great sin as I think they were probably expected to anyway. It was just the fact it ended up being by so many that everyone felt disappointed,” McCarthy said.
He added: “In Giovanni Trapattoni they have got a guy who gets results. He got them to the Euros where they lost to all the teams in their group and it wasn’t a great tournament, but they had the two finalists in their group and Croatia who are a good team. The results he is expected to get, and should get, he gets.
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