Giovanni Trapattoni was happy to settle for a 1-0 victory in Armenia as the Republic of Ireland survived a test of their Euro 2012 credentials.

The Italian had insisted before the game that winning by the only goal would do for him with the result all-important in his side's opening qualifier.

Trapattoni said: "It's not easy for a coach or a manager to say before the game, 'we will win'. We have to respect our opponents and we must have respect for this opponent. I felt we could win this game, but my colleague from Armenia would have thought they could win it too."

He added: "I knew it would be a very, very difficult game for us, but I think over the 90 minutes, we deserved to win it.

"For us, it is a very, very important victory because we have started the campaign with this result away from home. That creates confidence and we can go on from here."

It was left to relative novice Keith Fahey to snatch the points. The Birmingham midfielder, introduced as a 68th-minute replacement for Aiden McGeady, struck eight minutes later from close range, his first senior international goal on his first competitive appearance.

Trapattoni was delighted to return to Dublin with the first phase of his latest mission successfully completed, and predicted that Armenia could yet have a significant say in the destiny of Group B with fancied sides Russia and Slovakia yet to play in Yerevan.

He said: "I saw the last qualification for the World Cup and Armenia lost one or two games, but played very well.

"I think it will not be easy also for other teams coming here."