Lilywhites wants to create her own ‘story’

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Dundalk manager Filippo Giovagnoli says he does not underestimate tomorrow’s Europa League rival, KI Klaksvik.

But the Italian agrees that this is an opportunity for this current Lilywhites team to be written into the history books of club football in Ireland.

Only twice has an Irish club reached the group stage of a European competition, and both times have occurred in the last decade.

Shamrock Rovers did so in 2011, but failed to score a single point in their six Group A matches, despite some memorable moments, including taking the lead against Tottenham Hotspur at the former White Hart Lane.

Can this Dundalk team emulate those of the last decade?

Dundalk accomplished the feat themselves five years later. Although they also finished last in their group, they gave a better account of themselves, scoring four points, including a win against Maccabi Tel Aviv at the Tallaght Stadium.

From a financial point of view, progress tomorrow would be enormous for the club, with a windfall of around 3 million euros on the way, even if they failed to score a point in the next group stages.

The significance of such a sum cannot be denied, particularly with the Rovers virtually clinching the SSE Airtricity League title, and the Bohemians having earned 1.7 million euros from their recent transfer of Matt Doherty to Spurs.

However, on top of that, Giovagnoli says it’s an opportunity for players to write their own chapter in the recent landmark success of Dundalk.

“You will be part of the history of the club if you succeed,” he tells RTÉ Sport.

“The history of the club, the history of the League of Ireland, the history of this nation’s football, I think.

“We know what we’re up against, but still we shouldn’t be distracted by this kind of pressure. We have to think that it’s a privilege to have this pressure, that it makes us more focused on the task.”

Michael O’Neill and Stephen Kenny were the men behind the previous teams to reach the group stage of the Europa League.

Both went on to manage their countries, with the latter gearing up for a massive Euro 2020 play-off semi-final against Slovakia next week.

Giovagnoli does not allow a comparison to be made between himself and the couple.

“We are talking about two different coaches who have a different profile than mine. I’m not even close to them, they are legends here in Ireland,” he says.

Actually, he points out that a win tomorrow could give him a chance to stay longer in Co Louth.

“I want to be part of this club. I want to extend my contract. I want to work. I want to build a project, something successful for Dundalk, for the city and for football in Ireland.”

It has been a dizzying period for Giovagnoli, who took over in the last week of August after Vinny Perth was fired.

The club made the move apparently due to a strong defeat in the Champions League standings to Celje. That result added to a drop in form that had seen a club that had won five of the last six Premier Division titles, in third place on the table.

Dundalk’s team training at Aviva on Wednesday

The form of the league has improved since the Italian arrived, despite Sunday’s big loss to Shamrock Rovers, a result that can be explained, to some extent, by the 10 changes made after last week’s penalty shootout. about Sheriff Tiraspol.

“The best thing is the relationship we have built with the players”, is his response when asked what he has enjoyed the most since he arrived at the club.

“We have built a family situation internally. There is a kind of trust between us. We really enjoy working together and it makes us strong.

“What we did in Moldova was something special. Only with this family environment could we have gone through and faced this challenge.

“To make this more special, we will have to come through tomorrow.”

Follow Dundalk v KI Klaksvik (start at 7:30 pm) via our live blog on RTÉ.ie / sport and the RTÉ news app, or watch live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player starting at 7 pm



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