Giovanni Trapattoni turns 85. © APA

Trainer legend and cult figure: Trapattoni turns 85

He is one of the most successful coaches in the world and also a football gentleman. Giovanni Trapattoni became a cult figure - especially in Germany - less because of his sporting merits, but because of three and a half furious minutes in a small press room on Säbener Strasse.

March 17, 2024

From: dpa/dl

His tirade as Bayern Munich coach with sentences like “What do Struuunz allow?”, “Weak as an empty bottle” and “I'm done” is what most fans in this country think of when they hear the name Trapattoni. This Sunday (March 17th) the Italian turns 85 years old.

Trapattoni himself is somewhat uncomfortable with the fact that this performance went down in football history. A few years ago he once asked: “How can I be proud of an outburst of anger in which I made a bunch of grammatical mistakes?” The Italian has since completely withdrawn from the public eye and has not been available for interviews for a long time .

Two dozen titles in four countries

After his playing days, Trapattoni was active as a coach for almost four decades, primarily in the Italian Serie A, but also in the Bundesliga twice at FC Bayern (1994/1995 and 1996-1998) and later at VfB Stuttgart (2005/06). The Swabians released the old master early, something that had never happened to him anywhere before in his long career. It was a unique humiliation for him.

Giovanni Trapattoni, here as Ireland coach, provided legendary moments. © APA/epa / BARBARA OSTROWSKA

The trophy collection of the farmer's son from Cusano Milanino near Milan includes almost two dozen trophies: “Il Trap” became champions in Italy (six times with Juventus, once with Inter Milan around Matthäus and Andreas Brehme), Germany (1997 with FC Bayern), among others. , Portugal (2005 with Benfica Lisbon) and Austria (2007 with Red Bull Salzburg). There are also a number of cup victories. In 1985 he won the European Cup with Juve after he was successful in the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1984. As Juve and Inter coach, he won the UEFA Cup three times.

Disappointment with Azzurri

However, he also experienced several disappointments during his long career. In 2000 he took over the Italian national team and would lead the Squadra Azzurra to a major title again after almost two decades of waiting. At the 2002 World Cup he failed in the round of 2008 against co-hosts South Korea, and two years later even in the European Championship preliminary round. His last coaching position was with Ireland from 2013 to XNUMX.

In 2002, “Trap” with Italy failed in the World Cup round of XNUMX to South Korea. © APA

As a child of the Italian Catenaccio school, Trapattoni was always a great defensive advocate. The success, especially with Juve in the 1994s, proved him right. But when Bayern lured him abroad for the first time in XNUMX, he found it difficult. “Worlds collided that didn’t fit together,” remembers Lothar Matthäus.

Love for defensive football

In Trapattoni's Italy, Matthäus often no longer understood the world: he remembers, for example, how defense chief Giuseppe Bergomi came to him on a bus ride to the away game in Bologna and said that a draw would be important for winning the championship. Aim for a draw? As league leaders? “For me as a former Bayern player, something like that was crazy.”

Trapattoni here with Alex Del Piero. © ANSA

Of course, this obsession with defense causes problems at FC Bayern - there was also criticism from the team about Trapattoni's tactics in the run-up to the legendary press conference in 1998. Matthäus always had a good relationship with the coach. Nevertheless, he still admits today: “I see football a little differently than Giovanni Trapattoni.” When the two later trained Salzburg together for a season, there were repeated discussions about tactics.