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no excuse

Trap hails 'physically superior' Germans after defeat

Giovanni Trapattoni thinks Germany may have scored more had he not played three men in midfield.

EMBATTLED IRELAND COACH Giovanni Trapattoni has blamed tonight’s embarrassing World Cup qualifier defeat on the gulf in physical and technical prowess between his team and Germany.

The Euro 2012 semi-finalists routed Ireland 6-1 at the Aviva Stadium and afterwards, the Italian told RTE:

“They were superior physically. There are 10 players who are 1.85 metres (tall). They’re better physically and technically. We have no excuse.”

When interviewer Tony O’Donoghue put it to the manager that Ireland and Germany have never been equals on the football stage, Trapattoni reaffirmed his reasoning:

“We have no excuse about this defeat because they were clearly superior. Now we have to think about the Faroes, we have to think about our group. Because it’s impossible to think we can arrive before (finish ahead of) the Germans.”

For the first time under the Italian’s management, Ireland line out with a three-man midfield, but it could not hold Germany at bay for long.

“People saw we played 30 minutes with good balance and good position. After the first goal, they became superior,” Trapattoni said, adding that he thought the tactical switch had still proved useful as Ireland would other wise have been overrun even more in midfield.

“We were not able to contain them in midfield, so we couldn’t oppose them over the field because they were the best team – with two strikers, without three in midfield there (would have been) less.”

- Additional reporting by Paul Fennessy.

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