 |
||
 |
PROPERTY JOBS
CARS
DATING |
|
|
|
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
|||||||||||||||
|
 Minasyan aims to upset Trapattoni's Republic plans 9/3/2010 - 7:42:36 AM  Armenia coach Vardan Minasyan is relishing the chance to lock horns with one of international football’s veterans tonight. The 36-year-old will go head to head with Republic of Ireland counterpart Giovanni Trapattoni at the Yerevan Republican Stadium determined not to let the Italian have things all his own way. Minasyan is 35 years Trapattoni’s junior, but while he lacks experience by comparison, he is not short of ambition and national pride. He said: “It will be interesting. He [Trapattoni] is a very famous coach and a very strong coach – he showed that in the [World Cup play-off] games against France. “It will be interesting for me. I am a young coach and I have a long way to go. “But every team goes out on to the pitch to win. Of course, we understand that Ireland are a strong team, but we will try to stop them. “I have seen the last two matches and they are very strong, very aggressive. They are a very good team and I saw that especially in the second half against Argentina [1-0 friendly defeat last month]. “But every team has its strengths and weaknesses and we will try to win. A win would give us a lot of confidence. “But of course, a draw would be a good result too.” While the Armenian players were unknown to their Irish counterparts until they began their preparations for tonight’s game, the reverse is not true. The Barclays Premier League is hugely popular in their country, and many members of Trapattoni’s team will be household names. Minasyan said: “The Premier League is our favourite league, not the Spanish or any other. “The Premier League is more competitive, stronger.” The coach’s knowledge of the Irish men plying their trade in England has prompted him to send out a warning to his squad, several of whom have already faced a Republic team in the last year. The Armenian 18 tonight will include players who were part of the Under-21s side which defeated Ireland 4-1 in Yerevan in November and 2-1 in Dublin in March, although Minasyan insists their latest challenge will be an entirely different one. He said: “We cannot compare this game with those two because the national Under-21 teams play at a completely different level. “Not every player from the Ireland Under-21 team plays in the Premier League in England. “This is another level, another experience.” |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
