Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni reveals he’s “still waiting for the investigation” into Italy’s controversial Euro 2004 exit.
The Azzurri went out in the group phase when Denmark and Sweden played out a 2-2 draw, which meant both the Scandinavian teams went through regardless of the Italian result.
Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni reveals he’s “still waiting for the investigation” into Italy’s controversial Euro 2004 exit.
The Azzurri went out in the group phase when Denmark and Sweden played out a 2-2 draw, which meant both the Scandinavian teams went through regardless of the Italian result.
“Sweden against Denmark, I remember the game. Do you know what [then Uefa president Lennart] Johansson said? ‘If this game finishes in a draw, we will open an investigation’.
“Do you know if he made the investigation? I'm still waiting for the investigation.”
Trap had further problems when Ireland lost a play-off for the 2010 World Cup against France thanks to an obvious Thierry Henry handling offence.
“[Then France manager Raymond] Domenech said to me, ‘Giovanni, you know football…’, and I said to Domenech, ‘Yes, I know football’.”
Trapattoni also famously raged against referee Byron Moreno after a series of bad decisions in Italy’s 2002 World Cup exit to South Korea. Moreno was later suspended for 20 games in Ecuador for falsifying notes and awarding 13 minutes of injury time, then sentenced to two and a half years in prison for smuggling 6kg of heroin into the United States of America.