Ireland's soccer fans will have cause to celebrate two missionaries Tuesday as they remember St Patrick and fete Italian supercoach Giovanni Trapattoni on his 70th birthday.
The ex-Juventus, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich coach has bred steel into the team that failed to qualify for Euro 2008, beaten 5-2 by lowly Cyprus.
Working with assistants Liam Brady and Marco Tardelli, he has led his new charges to joint top in their World Cup 2010 qualifying group alongside Italy.
Trapattoni's achievement, and the curious fact of his birthday falling on St Paddy's Day, was featured in a long article Monday on the FIFA website, entitled Trapattoni, Still Hungry At 70.
Asked what he liked most about the Irish players, Italy's most successful coach said: ''their heart is fantastic, their mentality is like mine''.
Commenting on the success of 69-year-old Luis Aragones at Euro 2008 with Spain and the record-breaking run of 67-year-old Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, 'Trap' said: ''I think it's true to say that experience is back in fashion''.
''My view is that football is like school - you never stop learning''.
The coach, who acknowledged he'll be ''emotional'' when the national anthems are played in Italy's first encounter with its former manager in Bari on April 1, was also asked if the Ireland job would be his last.
''Who knows? I'm a believer that you leave these things to God,'' said the famously religious Trap, who is known for rituals like sprinkling holy water on his bench.
Tributes to the seemingly ageless tactician started to flow on Monday, with the former 'golden boy' of Italian soccer, Gianni Rivera, saying: ''He's set to carry on for a long time''.
Rivera, who won his first scudetto for AC Milan at 19 in 1970 alongside the then 31-year-old defender, said: ''I remember him as simpatico, ready to help, good company''.
''In life, you always have to be ready to overcome obstacles. And he has the right spirit to do that''.
Trapattoni took over at the Ireland helm in June, replacing Steve Staunton after winning the Austrian league with Red Bull Salzburg.
Former Arsenal and Juventus star Brady - who played under Trapattoni in Turin - quickly signed up as No.2 to ''explain to the players certain small tactical details better than I can at the moment,'' Trapattoni said.
Juve and Italy great Tardelli joined the team to provide his World Cup-winning expertise.
Trapattoni himself led the Azzurri to the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004 but both campaigns ended in disappointment.
But after Euro 2004 he showed he still had the winning touch by coaching Benfica to the Portuguese title.
RECORD ONLY MATCHED BY FERGUSON, STEIN.
Trapattoni took over Italy in 2000 after a distinguished club career that included 20 titles and cups - a record matched only by Ferguson and Celtic's Jock Stein.
He won six Serie A titles with Juventus and one with Inter Milan.
He also coached Bayern Munich to the German league title.
Trap is a colourful character known for his high-energy touch-line coaching and exuberant displays at press conferences.
One protracted outburst in broken German during his time at Bayern was turned into a popular Internet video dubbed the 'Trap-Rap'.
His term at the Italy helm was troubled, with calls for his resignation after Italy's shock early exit in the 2002 World Cup to co-hosts South Korea and also after a poor start to the Euro 2004 qualifying campaign.
He managed to ride out the storms and great things were expected of his side in Euro 2004 but Italy failed to get past the group stage.
As a club coach he started off with two years at his former club AC Milan before moving to Juve.
Aside from his six first division titles, he won one Italian Cup and one European Super Cup there.
During his playing career for AC Milan, Trapattoni won two first division titles, one Italian Cup, two European Champions' Cups, one Cup Winners Cup and one Inter-Continental Cup.
He played 17 matches for Italy, scoring one goal.
A top-class defender schooled by AC Milan's legendary Nereo Rocco, Trapattoni's most notable performance came for the national side.
He virtually marked Pele out the match when Italy beat Brazil 3-0 at the San Siro in May 1963.
