SOCCER:GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI has confirmed his remarkable plan to allow Robbie Keane to play a rescheduled game for LA Galaxy less than 72 hours before the first of the Republic of Ireland's crucial European Championship group games against Andorra and Armenia next month.

The Italian, who named his preliminary squad of 27 players for the games yesterday, said his captain will join the squad as soon as possible after the match, which takes place in New Jersey against the New York Red Bulls on Tuesday week, but acknowledged the 31-year-old might be too tired to play in the first of the two matches – the game away to Andorra.

Under Fifa rules, the FAI could insist Keane skips the match, which is of limited significance as Galaxy have already qualified for the MLS play-offs.

Speaking in Dublin yesterday, as he named his squad, the veteran coach suggested he had never, over the course of his long career in management, been inclined to cut across colleagues in relation to player availability and that, having spoken to Keane, on this occasion he is prepared to allow the striker to join up late.

“I was in touch with him and he said to me: ‘Mister, I wish to play my country.’ I couldn’t say to him: ‘Robbie, don’t play, you think about us, it is important.’ I let him decide. It’s up to him.With his mentality, his form, he can play 45 minutes.”

That was as close as Trapattoni came to suggesting there might be some sort of agreement in place for the Irishman to play only in the early part of the game which is already a sell-out and expected to attracted a large live television audience in the States.

It would certainly make some sense as the stadium where the match is to take place is located in Harrison, New Jersey which is effectively a suburb of Newark.

The games is scheduled to kick off at 8pm local time and the last direct flight for Dublin leaves Newark at 9.55pm so he could potentially just about make the flight and, as Trapattoni, suggested, sleep overnight on the plane. It’s all ridiculously tight, however, and a more likely scenario would be that he takes a later flight and links up with the squad in Barcelona.

Quite why Trapattoni would allow him to do any of that, however, ahead of games that will decide the success or otherwise of Ireland’s entire qualification campaign and, quite possibly, Trapattoni’s own future in his current job, is far from clear.

The Italian said that in the event Keane, who he has repeatedly said is central to his plans, does arrive too tired to play he has options but he spent a good deal of the earlier part of yesterday’s press conference talking about how Andorra deserve respect, particularly now that the game will be played in a tiny stadium in the principality itself. It was entirely sensible stuff which he then seemed to contradict by confirming he will risk Keane being tired or, much worse, injured as a result of playing for his club.

If Ireland drop points in Andorra, even without Keane, then it will be entirely fair to question whether they deserve to go to next summer’s finals but to be so generous with the services of the side’s top scorer would appear to be tempting fate.

And to needlessly risk him being unavailable through injury for the visit to Dublin four days later of a team that have recently run riot against Slovakia seems like an act of utter recklessness by a man who has spent much of his time in Ireland trying to shake off a reputation for excessive caution.

The squad itself, meanwhile, presented few surprises yesterday although Marc Wilson was omitted along with Keith Treacy and the injured Darron Gibson while Séamus Coleman made a welcome return having come back from injury at Everton. It will, in any case, have to be trimmed back one way or another over the coming week or so.

Meanwhile, in relation to the decision to stage the Andorra game at the 850-seat Communal Stadium rather than Espanyol’s ground in Barcelona as the FAI had hoped, Trapattoni observed that it could not be gauged how much of a role the Russians had played in the process but admitted that he suspects “malice” on the part of Ireland’s group rivals.

The Russians might contend that they are just being hard nosed about their own interests and it’s possible that Trapattoni might be better off if he followed their lead.

IRELAND SQUAD TO FACE ANDORRA AND ARMENIA

Given (Aston Villa), Westwood (Sunderland), Forde (Millwall), O’Shea (Sunderland), Foley (Wolves), Kelly (Fulham), Ward (Wolves), Dunne (Aston Villa), Kilbane (Derby), St Ledger (Leicester), O’Dea (Leeds), Delaney (Ipswich), Whelan (Stoke), McCarthy (Wigan), Coleman (Everton), Andrews (Ipswich) Fahey (Birmingham), Keogh (Leeds), Duff (Fulham), McGeady (Spartak Moscow), Hunt (Wolves), Lawrence (Portsmouth), Keane (Los Angeles Galaxy), Doyle (Wolves), Long (West Brom), Cox (West Brom), Walters (Stoke).