The big controversy in the football world this week has been France's qualification for next year's World Cup, after they beat Ireland in a two legged play off. Arsenal's William Gallas bundled home the decisive goal in Wednesday's 1-1 draw in Paris, but it was obvious to all that Barcelona striker Thierry Henry handled the ball twice in the build up to the goal.
The Irish FA are understandably outraged that their place at the 2010 World Cup has been denied by such an injustice and yesterday asked FIFA for the game to be replayed. However, I've just read that their request has been turned down by the governing body.
After England, Ireland are my favourite country (my family emigrated from there many,many years ago and it is a very nice place to visit) so I would've loved to have seen them at next year's World Cup, but going ahead with a rematch would have been more trouble than it was worth for FIFA. Obviously, the French FA would not have been too happy about having to play the game again after seemingly being assured a place in South Africa at the final whistle of Wednesday's game and let us not forget that there have been very similar incidents to this one which have not resulted in games being replayed. One example that stands out is Mexico in 1986, when Diego Maradona's infamous "Hand of God" helped knock England out of the World Cup.
As for the bad guy in this whole incident, Thierry Henry, he will be vilified in the Irish press in the same way Maradona was in the British press in '86. But to be fair to the talented Frenchman, there was a lot a at stake in Wednesday's game and there are not many of us who would own up to cheating if there was a place at the World Cup Finals at stake. I see myself as a very honest individual, but I have to admit that if I was in Henry's situation, my gamesmanship and will to win in the heat of the moment would probably overrule my sense of fair play.
However, there is no doubt that the Irish have been victims of poor officiating; the whole stadium except the referee and linesmen saw Henry clearly handled the ball. When the dust has settled though, Giovanni Trapattoni's team have to pick themselves up, put this difficult episode behind them however hard it is to take and concentrate on future endeavors.
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2 comments:
Nice post Sam. I honestly think, however, that for all the adrenalin and desire to get his side to the World Cup, Henry has essentially cheated to get where he wants and this, under any imaginable circumstance, is unnacceptable.
He missed an opportunity to carry out the most sporting of gestures - a quick word to the referee could have seen the goal ruled out and the game continue to wherever it would have led, be it penalties or a legitimate winner. Henry is an unsporting, vile character and no amount of subsequent Irish arse-kissing can make up for it.
I will agree with you that as great a player Henry is, he is also an unsporting character, he does seem to think that because he's the best player on the pitch he's better than the referee and can confront him after the match, a particular incident comes to mind a few seasons ago when he arrograntly ran up to a ref after a game and had a huge moan about something or other.
He's being clever saying that the game should be replayed, because he knows realistically its not going to happen and he doesn't want to be branded a cheat for the rest his life. Suppose its better than him coming out and saying it was the Hand of God!
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