Italy boss Marcello Lippi is looking forward to meeting Giovanni Tapattoni's Republic of Ireland on April fools day. The World Cup winning coach though doesn't rate Trap as a fool and is very cautious about Ireland and their qualifying campaign. Ireland host Bulgaria on March 28th and the Italians have a tough trip(As Ireland found) to Montenegro. Four days later Italy will host Trapattoni's Ireland in Bari.
Lippi said
"Ireland is a very good, strong team. I watched them play in Dublin recently when they beat Georgia and I found a very enthusiastic side. They fell behind very early and at one point they risked going even further behind but they played well and came back to win.
"I didn't speak to Trapattoni when I was there but you can see the influence of his hands and feet on the team.
"These next few weeks will be crucial for us. We both have two very important matches."