The ex-Italy international, who was former Irish manager Giovanni Trapattoni’s number two between 2008 and 2013, suggested Ireland players lacked football intellect and were inept tactically, but Coleman did his best to dismiss the former World Cup winner’s comments, saying: “I’m not really bothered what Marco thinks.”
The Donegal native’s manager Martin O’Neill similarly attempted to brush off the criticism: “I think that Marco is entitled to his opinion,” the 64-year-old coach said rather diplomatically.
Meanwhile, in potentially a hint towards Martin O’Neill’s plans for tomorrow night, the 27-year-old full-back was picked to speak at the press conference rather than the usual routine, whereby captain John O’Shea gives his thoughts along with the manager on the day before the match.
The decision will fuel speculation that Coleman could be set to replace O’Shea as captain against the Italians tomorrow night, and the 27-year-old is looking forward to the occasion.
You look back over the years and you have seen players making names for themselves, making themselves heroes among the Irish fans and it’s obviously something that you dream about.
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“But that’s the end-game. Hopefully that will be the case, but it’s a case of whatever players the manager picks have to go out there and put in the hard graft for the 90 minutes and then the rest will come.
“But it’s definitely an opportunity and the full squad believes that we can get four points out of this group.”
The last time Ireland beat Italy in a competitive game was the famous 1-0 victory against the Azzurri in World Cup ’94, as Ray Houghton scored the only goal in a win routinely considered as one of the greatest moments in Irish sport.
Yet the Everton star admits he is too young to remember the occasion vividly, but says the current team have their own good memories to draw upon, citing one in particular.
I can’t remember too much of (USA ’94), the goal and the rest, but we don’t have to look too far back. That night in Dublin, Shane Long’s goal (in the 1-0 victory over Germany last October), it was a memorable night for us all.
“We know that when it all clicks for and we stick together for the 90 minutes and we don’t lose concentration that we are capable of beating big teams.
“I do genuinely believe that there’s a big result left in us in this group.”
The former Sligo Rovers player also paid tribute to the Irish fans for their good behaviour and support during the team’s time spent in France.
They’ve been brilliant since we got here and we knew that would be the case.
“We want to give them something to celebrate in four points
“It’s all well and good that we got here, and we enjoyed getting here and we enjoyed qualifying, but now that we are here we have to finish the job tomorrow.
“We were massively disappointed after the Belgium game, don’t get me wrong. We lost 3-0 and something we pride ourselves on is how compact we are and they broke away on us a few times.
But as soon as that game was over, me personally — we were beaten, there was nothing we could have done about it — I knew we had a big task ahead.
“We had to forget about it as quickly as possible, obviously go over things that we did wrong, but we had too big a job to dwell on it and there’s no better way to fix it than play a game of football tomorrow against Italy.
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Seamus Coleman 'not bothered' by controversial Marco Tardelli comments
- Paul Fennessy reports from the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille
SEAMUS COLEMAN INSISTS he is “not bothered” by recent remarks made by ex-Ireland assistant boss Marco Tardelli.
The ex-Italy international, who was former Irish manager Giovanni Trapattoni’s number two between 2008 and 2013, suggested Ireland players lacked football intellect and were inept tactically, but Coleman did his best to dismiss the former World Cup winner’s comments, saying: “I’m not really bothered what Marco thinks.”
The Donegal native’s manager Martin O’Neill similarly attempted to brush off the criticism: “I think that Marco is entitled to his opinion,” the 64-year-old coach said rather diplomatically.
Meanwhile, in potentially a hint towards Martin O’Neill’s plans for tomorrow night, the 27-year-old full-back was picked to speak at the press conference rather than the usual routine, whereby captain John O’Shea gives his thoughts along with the manager on the day before the match.
The decision will fuel speculation that Coleman could be set to replace O’Shea as captain against the Italians tomorrow night, and the 27-year-old is looking forward to the occasion.
“But that’s the end-game. Hopefully that will be the case, but it’s a case of whatever players the manager picks have to go out there and put in the hard graft for the 90 minutes and then the rest will come.
“But it’s definitely an opportunity and the full squad believes that we can get four points out of this group.”
The last time Ireland beat Italy in a competitive game was the famous 1-0 victory against the Azzurri in World Cup ’94, as Ray Houghton scored the only goal in a win routinely considered as one of the greatest moments in Irish sport.
Yet the Everton star admits he is too young to remember the occasion vividly, but says the current team have their own good memories to draw upon, citing one in particular.
“We know that when it all clicks for and we stick together for the 90 minutes and we don’t lose concentration that we are capable of beating big teams.
“I do genuinely believe that there’s a big result left in us in this group.”
The former Sligo Rovers player also paid tribute to the Irish fans for their good behaviour and support during the team’s time spent in France.
“We want to give them something to celebrate in four points
“It’s all well and good that we got here, and we enjoyed getting here and we enjoyed qualifying, but now that we are here we have to finish the job tomorrow.
“We were massively disappointed after the Belgium game, don’t get me wrong. We lost 3-0 and something we pride ourselves on is how compact we are and they broke away on us a few times.
“We had to forget about it as quickly as possible, obviously go over things that we did wrong, but we had too big a job to dwell on it and there’s no better way to fix it than play a game of football tomorrow against Italy.
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Euro 2016 Interview Marco Tardelli Martin O'Neill Reaction Seamus coleman Soccer Ireland Republic Italy