Republic of Ireland skipper Robbie Keane handed manager Trapattoni the first victory of his reign with his 33rd senior international goal.Duff Pulls Out Of Irish Squad!
Republic of Ireland skipper Robbie Keane handed manager Trapattoni the first victory of his reign with his 33rd senior international goal.The Tottenham striker fired home a deflected shot with just three minutes gone to see off Colombia despite a concerted fightback by the South Americans.
Goalkeeper Dean Kiely, standing in for the injured Shay Given, made a string of fine saves, including a superb double stop to deny Falcao Garcia and Edixon Perea in first-half injury-time to claim a creditable clean sheet.
Trapattoni: "The result was very, very important because our team grows in confidence.
"We have to believe in our play. The first 20 minutes we have played very, very well and scored a goal.
"But Colombia are a great team. I said yesterday it was a big test for us and our defenders and it was.
"Our defenders played very, very well. We were a bit lucky in the first hour. Kiely made two or three very important saves."