Giovanni Trapattoni has one of the most glittering resumes in world football but the Republic of Ireland manager heads to Euro 2012 fuelled by a burning desire to make amends for his Italian flop.
In the materialistic football fraternity, players and managers are known to measure the worth of colleague or opponent only by the size of his trophy cabinet.
The demand to "put your medals on the table" is often barked out to silence an argumentative, less successful adversary. But it would take a brave man to use that confrontational approach on Trapattoni.
The 73-year-old is the only manager to have won club football's four leading trophies -- the European Cup, UEFA Cup, Cup-Winners' Cup and Intercontinental Cup -- and is one of of only three coaches, alongside Ernst Happel and Jose Mourinho, to have won the league title in four different countries.
"Il Trap" was the first foreign coach to win the Bundesliga when he led Bayern Munich to the title in 1997 and his haul of 22 medals from spells in charge of Juventus, Inter Milan, Bayern, Benfica and Red Bull Salzburg among others provides eloquent testimony to his talent.
And yet, as with so many of the sport's greats, it is the rare failures that he remembers most when he looks back on 38 years as a manager.
One spell in particular -- his four-year stint as Italy boss -- leaves Trapattoni with a sense of unfinished business and it is that painful memory that is driving him to lead Ireland's underdogs deep into the tournament in Poland and the Ukraine.
Although Trapattoni lost only seven of his 44 matches as the Azzurri coach, his reign is remembered as a fallow period one of the world's most passionate football nations.
In 2002, an Italy team boasting stars like Paolo Maldini, Alessandro del Piero and Francesco Totti crashed out of the World Cup after a shock 2-1 defeat against co-hosts South Korea.
The result left an especially bitter taste as Trapattoni's team had what would have been the winning goal controversially disallowed by Ecuador referee Byron Moreno, who then sent off Totti before Korea bagged a golden goal winner in extra time.
Trapattoni's luck was out again two years later as Italy were eliminated from their Euro 2004 group in bizarre circumstances.
Despite an unbeaten record in their three matches in Portugal, Trapattoni's side paid the price for draws against Sweden and Denmark after the two Scandinavian countries played out a 2-2 draw in their final match that meant both advanced at the expense of the Italians on goal difference.
Again Trapattoni muttered darkly about conspiracies but his spell as Italy coach ended soon after as the federation confirmed his contract wouldn't be renewed. Now he has what might be his last chance to rewrite history.
Trapattoni's effervescent attitude to his job gives him the aura of a younger man but deep down he knows time is running out to make his mark on the international game.
Even with an astute manager like Trapattoni at the helm, Ireland's record -- this is their first major tournament since the 2002 World Cup -- suggests there is no guarantee they will be back on this stage any time soon.
That is why he is so desperate to upset the odds and qualify from a Euro 2012 group featuring world and European champions Spain, Croatia and an emotional clash with Italy.
"All is possible in football," he said. "With enthusiasm and belief, we have to believe it. Nobody denies our dreams.
"I became famous because my players played against the most famous players, like Pele, Eusebio, Cruyff, and succeeded.
"I was the underdog. There were the stars but over 90 minutes, why not dream?"
Source: AFP
