MATTHEW SPIROon why there is no love lost between the Ireland assistant coach and the French manager
ANY FRENCH person who missed the draw for the World Cup play-off and tuned in to the radio chat shows afterwards may have been momentarily confused. The talk was not focusing on Shay Given, Damien Duff or Robbie Keane, nor on the Republic of Ireland’s notorious fighting spirit, but rather on an Italian jinx that has plagued Les Bleus and, in particular, coach Raymond Domenech for years.
The presence of Giovanni Trapattoni and his assistant, Marco Tardelli, appears to be worrying the French more than any of Ireland’s players.
“Ireland have a lot of qualities but perhaps their biggest strength is Trapattoni,” ex-France and Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier commented. “He’s a wonderful tactician.”
This week, France Football magazine dedicated its first four pages to Ireland’s Italian influence, heaping praise on Trapattoni. “By imposing rigour and discipline, the Italian technician has brought pride and coherence back to an Ireland team that no longer loses,” wrote journalist Thierry Marchand.
No wonder Domenech has been anxious to keep the Trapattoni effect in perspective: “It’s nice for Ireland they’ve found a good coach. But he’s not going to be on the pitch,” he pointed out.
Italian trainers and teams have been hampering Domenech throughout a 24-year coaching career in which he is yet to lift a major trophy. During his 13 seasons with the France under-21s, Domenech’s best chance of silverware came arguably in the late 1990s when he possessed an exceptional team that included the talents of Thierry Henry, Nicolas Anelka and William Gallas. They failed to reach the Sydney Olympics, however, losing 3-2 on aggregate to Tardelli’s Italy in a decisive qualifier in November 1999.
That result still grates with Domenech to the extent he brought the subject up when his seniors played Italy in 2007, accusing his opponents of bribing the referee eight years previously.
“I have experienced a France-Italy game with a bought referee,” he claimed. “When it happens to you once, you worry it might happen again.”
Understandably upset, Tardelli dismissed those comments as “the mindless words of a loser”.
Although the former Juventus midfielder has promised there will be no squabbling in the coming weeks, he could not resist one barb to the French press, telling L’Equipe he would not be approaching Domenech for a handshake in Dublin.
“I’m Trapattoni’s assistant, it’s the two coaches that must shake hands,” Tardelli said. “It’s up to Domenech to come and shake Trapattoni’s hand.”
The biggest disappointment of Domenech’s career arrived in Berlin on July 9th, 2006, when France reached the World Cup final only to lose on penalties to the Azzurri. Again the 57-year-old refused to accept the defeat, accusing the officials of using video technology without having the authority to do so in order to see Zinedine Zidane’s head-butt on Marco Materazzi.
When the nations met again in Euro 2008 qualification, the former Lyon boss harped back to the Materazzi incident. “In a World Cup final, he scored a goal, he got the opponents’ best player sent off, then he scored his penalty,” said Domenech. “Say what you like about (Andrea) Pirlo, Materazzi was my man of the match.”
Domenech got the better of his transalpine rivals in those qualifiers, winning 3-1 in Paris before drawing in Milan.
However, Roberto Donadoni’s men prevailed when it mattered, seeing off a beleaguered French team 2-0 in Zurich in the finals as they delivered the fatal blow to their rivals’ campaign.
Domenech must have breathed a sigh of relief when he saw France’s most recent World Cup qualifying group, but he knows the Italian ghost may yet return to haunt him in the coming play-off.
