Foley: Getting axed was like a ‘kick in the balls’

Ireland international Kevin Foley was understandably unhappy about his dramatic culling from the Irish Euro 2012 squad, saying it was like a “kick in the balls”.

Despite being named in the original 23-man squad, the Wolves defender was informed by Giovanni Trapattoni yesterday that he was being replaced by the much-maligned Paul McShane for the tournament in Poland and Ukraine.

McShane has apparently been given the nod due to his ability to cover in central defence amidst injury concerns over John O’Shea, Richard Dunne and Sean St. Ledger.

It had been reported that Foley had been struggling with a hamstring injury of late, but he proved his fitness by playing in the 5-0 defeat of the Tuscany select XI last night and spoke afterwards about his anger over the manner of his axing from the squad.

"I just feel betrayed, that's all I want to say," Foley is quoted as saying after the match in the Irish Independent.

"I said that to the manager, I obviously wasn't happy.

"I wanted to play tonight,” he added.

“I wanted to prove a point that I was fit to play. From what I understood I could have trained last week on Thursday and Friday and been involved in the game against Bosnia, but he said that there was no rush, that they could wait for me to train in Italy.”

"So I trained in Italy for two days and felt great and then all of a sudden he pulls me this morning just before the end and told me I wasn't in the squad. That was hard to take."

As if being dropped from the squad wasn’t bad enough, it seemed as if the manner in which he was given the axe by Trap was particularly cold, coming as it did without warning and reportedly only 30 minutes before the deadline for submitting the official 23-man squads to UEFA.

Foley is understood to have been offered the chance to remain on with the squad as an extra man but he declined, although there remains a possibility he could be recalled if John O’Shea fails to prove his fitness over the next few days.

The 27-year old was understandably angry about the whole situation, but to his credit, he refused to elaborate on the potential ramifications for his international future in the heat of the moment.

"I'll be their number one fan watching from home," he said. "The lads have been great with me but what just happened, happened."

"I don't really want to talk about that (his international future) now," he added.

"I just want to go home. It's a lot to take in one day."

For his part, Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni admitted that he had sympathy for Foley, but took the decision with the bigger picture in mind.

"We based our decision on the fact all the central defenders have problems," he said.

"Obviously, Kevin was very clearly upset and so was I. But I have a responsibility to our team and to the nation. It's my duty to take the decision, and disregard personal feelings."

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