they got the skillz that killz

i bet anyone $10 that brazil wont make it to the top 16

and if they do rematch they should replay all the games where refs had made a mistake alot of poeple have money on these games..

yes to tv screens as a forth official

“Self policing” needs to be initiated by the referee.

I second Dustin Lau:

By Dustin Lau | November 20th, 2009 at 7:09 am

Simple. Suspend him for 5 games. Let’s see how they do without him.
Regardless of whether it’s happened before, that’s not the point. The point is, it needs to stop happening.

If there aren’t going to be video replays, then the referees must ask the player if he dived/handballed/cheated.

If the player admits to it, freekick given, punishment meted out, game goes on.

If the player lies and is found to have lied with video evidence, automatic 6 game suspension.

Would players still cheat? If they think they can get away with it, yes.
But would they think twice if it means they might miss the whole world cup? Probably.

Either way, at least some small measure of justice is done, even if it can’t change the result.

Posted from Singapore

http://www.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/thierry-henry-handballs-france-into-world-cup-2010-would-you-have-done-the-same.html

Africa Cup of Nations Angola 2010 Draw Held
http://malawi.worldcupblog.org/team-news/africa-cup-of-nations-angola-2010-draw-held.html

It starts out like this:

The “Henry Incident” has provided an opportunity for outlandish stereo-typing and xenophobia. Opportunists have embraced a platform from which to moralize while others see the chance to advocate the red herring solution of video replay. (When Tony Cascarino lectures on ethics and fair play and isn’t laughed out of town then the apocalypse must be at hand.)

Certainly the goal should have been disallowed and the Republic of Ireland and their fans have a right to be aggrieved and to feel badly let down. The officials got the call wrong – either through not seeing the play or wrongly interpreting Henry’s actions. However, the debate was quickly hijacked and rapidly distorted. The hijackers seem to fall into three categories.

….

Then goes on with this:

The final clique is the “Henry is a cheat” bandwagon-jumpers. (Is is just a coincidence that such a high percentage of video proponents also seem quick to besmirch Henry? Perhaps it comes from watching replay after replay is super-slow-mo and the V-Js have forgotten that the game is played in real time.)

Cheating surely requires premeditation. From the time the ball skips off the turf to the time it leaves Henry’s hand it can be no longer than one second. Essentially Henry had to deal with the following in that miniscule amount of time. The game was in extra time, he was traveling at a good clip towards the Irish goal, the ball was skipping off a greasy surface and heading towards him at an angle.

To “cheat” Henry would have had to act with a level of premeditation that would be nothing short of superhuman. (This is not supporting the notion that Henry did not commit a foul – there is no direct requirement for intent – by the conventional meaning – in the laws of the game. Undoubtedly the goal should not have been allowed to stand.)

But surely it is a case of a player reacting in a way that is quiet natural given the circumstances and in particular the time available. A defender on the goal line and with a ball blasted at him within arm’s length will almost always move his hand towards the ball. In both instances it is an instinct fine tuned through thousands of hours of practice and playing.

To label Henry a cheat in such circumstances requires us to cast a wide net over almost everyone who has ever played the game. Handball – cheat, pushing off a defender- cheat, picking a defender at a corner kick – cheat, moving ten yards up the touchline for a throw-in – cheat.

That leaves us with the failure by Henry to admit to the referee that the ball stuck his arm and hand. The French captain is taking a roasting for that as well. The laws of the game do not require self policing by players but that can be written in if the powers-that-be see the advantages of such a system.

We could then look forward to the day when a defender admits to a referee that he did in fact trip the opponent and insist on being sent off. Or in the absence of such a change can we look forward to the same level of indignant protests that we have seen and heard in the last 24-hours the next time a defender fails to own up to a wrong-doing?
————

Read the whole thing: http://community.foxsports.com/bobbymcmahon/blog/2009/11/19/the_thierry_henry_incident_#comments