Defiant Giovanni Trapattoni refuses to quit after Ireland’s heaviest home defeat ever

Only in Ireland: a soccer team run by Opus Dei. The manager can't speak the same language as the players and half his inflated wages are paid by one of his fellow arch catholics. He stays in the job stuffing his bank account and can't be got rid of because it would cost too much to fire him. There is nothing that Ireland can't make a total mess of. Had the Germans put in a real effort the score would have been 14-1.

Our soccer team have been dying for years. Dreadful mediocre games and nothing but apologetics for failures. We need a new team driven by national pride rather than money.

dunphy is right - get mick mc back.

Changes have to be made! I am curious about the injury to Keano. Was it an injury or did he just not want to fly in from L.A.? With the mood of the team, they will now have trouble with the Faroe Islands on Tuesday. They won't play another match for quals then until March. I don't see them besting Sweden in the group.

What a brilliant German victory. Would have been a lot heavier if the Germany manager had not been informed at half time that eire was a friendly country during the last war. The 7-0 defeat to Mexico would have been eclipsed.