DUBLIN (AP) — Giovanni Trapattoni’s contract as Ireland’s national team coach has been extended by two years through the 2014 World Cup.
The announcement Tuesday was made two weeks after Ireland qualified for next year’s European Championship, the nation’s first major tournament in a decade.
The 72-year-old, a former coach of Italy, took the Ireland job in 2008 after Steve Staunton was fired. Ireland was unbeaten in its qualifying group for the 2010 World Cup but missed out because of Thierry Henry’s infamous handball that helped France win a playoff.
