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France break Irish hearts to seal World Cup slot
France ensured the likes of Franck Ribery, Karim Benzema and Thierry Henry will be at the World Cup in South Africa next year after winning through with a goal that has left Irish fans seething.
There was nothing wrong with the finish from William Gallas, but Thierry Henry admitted using his hand to keep the ball in play and commentators and Irish supporters are already talking of “The Hand of God II” and “The Hand of Henry” in reference to Diego Maradona in 1986.
“Yes, there is handball but I am not the referee,” Henry told reporters. “I’m in the box, there are two defenders in front of me. The ball bounced off my hand, the referee did not see it and I played on.”
Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni called the goal a “great mistake” by Swedish referee Martin Hansson but he chose not to accuse Henry of cheating.
“I told the referee that it is possible to make great mistakes,” Trapattoni told a new conference after the game at Stade de France. “It is a bitter evening.”
Trapattoni said he felt the referee should have talked to his assistants and to Henry before awarding the goal.
Yes, it’s a shame, even I as a Premier League fan have to says I am sad to see the Irish beging kicked. It looks like the big bosses want The French National Team in the World Cup 2010 no matter what… I feel a bit for Henry though as I always liked him and if you look at what is going in the regular matches there are so many things that are not correct but are still tolerated