Speaking to the Italian press, Irish boss Giovanni Trapattoni has said that he was surprised by the tremendous reception afforded to James McClean during his midweek debut.
Speaking to La Gazetta dello Sport in an interview this morning, Trap was first asked on whether he felt James McCarthy would be suited to play in a central midfielder role.
Replying that he felt reluctant to enter youngsters into what he described as “complicated situations”, the Irish boss began speaking of the enormous reception which Sunderland youngster McClean received on Wednesday night.
“When I watched him enter the stage, it seemed as though they [the Irish crowd during the substitution] had greeted Messi or Pele!” said Trapattoni on the player who Gazetta had described as a “phenomenon”.
“We should be calm [referring to both McClean and McCarthy], for their own good”.
In a wide-ranging interview, Trapattoni spoke of matters outside of the Irish team, stating that he would he would’ve attempted to phone the excluded Mario Balotelli (missing from Italy’s 1-0 defeat by the USA this week) to get him back in an Azzuri shirt, and that while he has no favourite for the Scudetto this year, he believes Juventus’ lack of European competition gives the Bianconeri an advantage over Milan.
