Trapattoni confident of reaching the World Cup finals

The Republic, who await their play-off opponents, will face either France, Portugal, Russia or Greece.

He said: “This team can play against anyone if they have belief in our performance, our mentality and our plan.

“We can go into the play-offs feeling confident and with belief if we play as we did against Italy on Saturday.

“We must believe. We have built this team and we can do it.”