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The Hand of Henry: What They Said.
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Without getting into a great deal of opinion, or any at all for that matter – there’s surely plenty of that floating about – it would probably be prudent to look into the words on each side of the divide from those who were there, at the game and directly impacted. (What with it being one of the most controversial games in World Cup Qualifying history and all.) Guys like that Henry character who’s found his name splattered all over the news for all the wrong reasons for the first time, at least it would seem, in his illustrious career. And that Trapattoni guy, who wasn’t making friends at FIFA before the incident.
Thierry Henry (French assist man): “Yes, there is handball but I am not the referee. 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. It doesn’t change anything to the fact that I’m happy we have qualified.”
“We suffered for two years, we have been having some problems with our press, our fans, with other people It would have been better to do it in another way, but as I said, I’m not the ref.”
“If they had got through it wouldn’t have been robbery (lucky). We have a lot of respect for this team,” Henry said. “We knew they play long and like a physical battle. You saw tonight that they are a very good team. I played eight years in England and I can tell you they are.”
Sebastien Squillaci (French defender): “It’s part of the game, it played in our favour tonight, maybe some other time it will play against us. Of course Ireland will not he happy but we are happy the referee awarded the goal. We’re competitors and we’re there to win. The goal may not be valid but we’ll take it.”
Giovanni Trapattoni (Ireland coach): “I told the referee that it is possible to make great mistakes. I am sad because the referee had time to ask the linesman and I am sure he should have asked Henry as well.”
“All the European people saw the game and what happened. France played a good game in Dublin but this time we played better and over the two games we deserved to go to South Africa.”
Raymond Domenech (French coach): “I didn’t see the replay. From where I was, I couldn’t see anything. All I know is the referee awarded the goal.”
Richard Dunne (Irish defender on Henry): “He told us we deserved to win. How is that supposed to make me feel? It makes me feel worse. He’s admitted he cheated. We should have won. He just said, ‘That’s it’. He just said he handled it, he didn’t mean it. Looking at it, it’s quite obvious he did mean it. It’s there for everyone to see and they’re not going to change it now. So what can we do? They’re going to the World Cup and we’re not. That’s it.”
“The referee said he was 100 per cent that he didn’t handle it and then Henry came and told us that he did. I think it’s quite blatant we were cheated. It’s not a difficult one to see, so that’s the annoying thing.
“The linesman is in line with it and he should give offside to start with. Surely one of them can see it that he’s handled it, everyone else has seen it. It’s one of those that wouldn’t even need a replay.
“At the stage of the game and the way it was going, it’s the biggest decision I’ve ever suffered. We deserved to win the game, we could have scored a couple of more goals. It’s one of those things. It gives them a lift and knocks the stuffing out of us. To give big decisions on that in big games is wrong. Platini wants France there.”
Liam Brady (Ireland ass’t manager): “When it comes to the crunch, the big teams always seem to go through. With the draw, they were wanting Portugal and France to go through and they did. That’s all that has to be said.”
Robbie Keane (Irish striker): “It was an easy decision to do the seedings, wasn’t it? They’re all probably on the phone to Sepp Blatter now, texting each other over the result. France and Germany are massive countries. There’s no way in a million years there was going to be a fair draw. And it wasn’t!”
“There’s no question or doubt in my mind, we won that game. The handball was so obvious. We’ve seen the replays, but we knew anyway from the reaction of the players.”
Florent Malouda (French free-kick taker): “I didn’t see it – I was really far. I took the free-kick – but I could see from the reactions that there was a problem. He tried to score and maybe the ball touched his hand – the referee didn’t see it, we have to see on the replay if there was a hand.”
William Gallas (French goal scorer): “It went so fast. I saw Thierry’s pass. The Irish were surprised, and I put my head, my chest,” he said as his voice trailed off.
[guardian; The Independent; Canadian Press; AP]
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“we could have scored a couple of more goal”
Except Ireland couldn’t, could they? Ireland were just like France in so many of their games: dominant but unable to score. Ireland couldn’t capitalize on France’s shocking performance and didn’t look like they could score another goal–at all. The game wasgoing to penalties, where anything can happen.
I find it hilarious that the Irish think the officials DELIBERATELY ignored the handball in order to make sure that France went thru, what a load of paranoid nonsense. FIFA certainly couldn’t ensure Russia went thru and you don’t think they wanted Arshavin and Hiddink in S. Africa?
In the last few months the people of the UK/Ireland (and their supporters elsewhere) have been indulging in their favorite pasttime: posing as morally superior to those cheating foreigners (Eduardo, Ngog and now Henry), always ignoring the misdeeds of their own players.
Ireland were obviously the better team last night – they might’ve gone thru on penalties, they might’ve lost. France do not deserve to be in S. Africa next summer and no one in France believes their team will do well at all there. In fact, many in France wanted Ireland to go thru so Domenech could be fired.
So now Henry is the latest pantomime villain, and since everyone loves to hate the French, it’s a bonus that he’s a Frenchman. You’d think that he’s the only cheat going to the wc — I’m sure all the other qualified teams had spotless qualifying campaigns full of players who behaved with the utmost integrity for every single minute of every single game.
The Irish are rightly aggrieved, tho (like France) they wouldn’t get out of the group stages next summer anyway. Henry did what so many other players have done — do everything to get their team to a tournament, no matter what. I can’t see those 20,000 Irish fans last night being silent and holding their heads down in shame in that stadium if Ireland were going thru under the same circumstances.
The fault lies with the officials’ incompetence and FIFA’s refusal to adopt video technology. The fault also lies with the FFF and Domenech for putting their national team in the position where the only way they can get to the wc is to come up with a cheating tactic and hope the officials won’t catch it. Henry knows S. Africa will be his last wc, his desperation showed.
So for all of you indulging in your favorite pasttime right now of hating the those evil French, and Henry, you need not worry: you’ll have more opportunity next summer when France are eliminated early and go back home.
Posted from 
United States
the guy touch the ball twice.
Posted from United States
Is there a school in France where they teach you how to end your career in a controversial fashion?
Zidane….Henry…et all. Very good footballers who will be remembered for the wrong things.
elliot…. the thing is only ireland supporters will remember him for the wrong thing, i dont think other people actually care about that one incident lol.
apparently everyone saw, and knows, what happened except for the men who matter…that linesman in particular needs to ask himself how he missed both the initial Henry offside and then his two handballs…
Posted from 
Republic Of Korea
Yo, Thierry…I’m really happy for you and i’mma let u finish, but Maradona had one of the greatest handballs of all time!
And Robbie Keane handled the ball twice also in the box — except the ref caught it. That’s the difference. Keane did the exact same thing.
Posted from United States
Since Chris provided quotes from key participants in last night’s comedy, here are some great quotes from two bloggers.
This one is from an Irish gooner:
And this is from a poster on the Guardian blog about the controversey:
“I can understand Irish frustration at missing out on World Cup attendance in this fashion. Regardless, I think there is a great deal of hypocrisy swirling around here. Kevin Hunt was the captain when Reading played Watford and the phantom goal was awarded against Watford. All of the Reading players knew that the ball had gone out for a goal kick but they celebrated when the referee awarded the goal. Nobody told him that awarding a goal was the wrong decision.
Kevin Hunt (who’s Irish by the way) was interviewed on the BBC. The interviewer asked why none of his team-mates had told the ref the truth. His response? The ref didn’t see it and we didn’t think that as professionals it was our place to tell him.
I have never heard calls for Kevin Hunt to be branded a cheat wherever he goes. In the press, Lawrenson, Shearer and Lineker just shrugged and said that these things happen. Well, I have news for you. Yesterday, one of these things just happened. No big deal for anyone except Ireland.
It was hilarious listening to the English commentators working themselves into a lather yesterday. They were not so furious when Peter Crouch nearly yanked the hair off a T&T defender to score a header at the 2006 World Cup. Swings and roundabouts, I say. Swings and roundabouts.
I think the Irish should raise their chins. It might have been a rotten way to lose out but at least nobody can criticise the team for not trying hard enough. Better luck next time.”
Posted from United States
And here’s another quote from an Irish journalist on the Guardian blog:
“Far be it from me to try to inject some reason into this frenzied debate, but I’ve just played and replayed the Given/Anelka penalty decision about a dozen times in slo-mo. The reverse angle shows quite clearly that Given grabbed Anelka’s ankle with his right hand and brought him down. It was a brilliant piece of chicanary, but chicanary nonetheless. It should have been a penalty.
Going by what some of my more hysterical and unhinged compatriots are saying on this thread, Given should have fessed up to the referee and demanded that France be given a penalty. If he’d done that, he’d have been pilloried and probably committed. “
Posted from United States
In that quote, Henry went on to say that he had told the official about the contact and the official told him “you are not the ref.” Who knows?
Anyway, I agree with all those who said that we’ve all had teams crushed or benefit from bad calls. Don’t have the answer to how to change refs powers without changing game completely. So I take the good with the bad — and believe me, my team has also had very bad.
Posted from United States
“dag” = im pretty sure this effects a whole ‘lotta people, including the ones who were rooting for the Irish (apparently the majority).
Replay the match: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/germany2006/news/newsid=27212.html
Or this only applies for Uzbekistan or Bahrain?
Posted from 
Portugal
FIFA is just another corrupt political body. It is evident!
Posted from United States
Richard Dunne is a tool, everything he has said from before the match to after, because of him I am glad Ireland won’t be at the world cup….and I don’t even like france
Posted from United States
mj, if FIFA is so corrupt and did everything for France to get to the wc, then why did the referee not give France any of the penalty calls in both legs? There was a very legitimate penalty France were denied in the first leg.
Posted from United States
Sandrahn: Did you even watch the game? Ireland had plenty of chances to score another, but they didn’t take them. I don’t know why you’re arguing semantics, bu that’s what is generally referred to as “could have scored”.
Posted from United States
The real problem is FIFA, not because of some conspiracy theory about favoritism for France, because they do not allow referees to look at video images when there are controversial events on the field. Doing so would eliminate some of the decisions that bring the game into disrepute, and could also deter cases of cheating (i.e. diving in the box). Video is used selectively in other sports, such as cricket and rugby, and no one says that doing so takes away the ’spirit’ of the game. What threatens the integrity of the game are crucial decisions that are wrong, obviously wrong, to millions of spectators and would also be seen as wrong to a referee who looked at the video. The game is faster than ever; players try to cheat as they always did; and the camera coverage is better than ever. It is time that FIFA entered the 21st century. To err is human, but to make use of technology to minimize error, is divine.
Not sure if anyone else has pointed this out. But… do you think maybe a Europa League style extra referee behind the goal would have spotted Henry’s handball? Said referee would likely have been positioned so that the handball happened right in front of him, so he would have had a much better view than the referee or the linesman.
Its a damn same that cheating is allowed ruin a what was to be a great world cup all i can say is shame shame shame on henry he is maradonna in a french jersey he disillusioned me about soccer being a fair sport. I guess its back to basketball as i cant watch cheats in sport as my dad thought me just play fair saDDENED CALIFORNIA EX SOCCER FAN
Ireland really need to shut up about the seedings. The entire World Cup process is seeded. The initial groups are seeded, the World Cup groups are seeded. The European play-offs in 2006 were seeded. The fact that they didn’t realize these playoffs were going to be seeded is unbelievable.
Posted from United States
bahahahahaha @ sandrahn!
Posted from United States
Canada
Excellent commentary here:
http://arsenal.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=516781
Excerpt: “The FAI this week begged and pleaded with FIFA to ‘uphold the integrity of the game’ by giving them a replay. Strangely enough, when Ireland beat Georgia at Croke Park earlier in the Qualifying campaign courtesy of some incorrect officiating, I don`t recall them offering Georgia a replay. When Damien Duff dived for a penalty in the 2002 World Cup I`m not sure I recall the same media or FAI uproar. I`m also not sure why the FAI have demanded Thierry Henry apologise for his handball on Wednesday night, yet have somehow not asked Robbie Keane to do likewise- Keane, you will remember was twice penalised for deliberate handball in the match. Is it only intent to cheat when you get away with it?”
If Ireland are so pure and morally superior to France, then why didn’t the FAI offer to replay their game v. Georgia?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf9fx4ipF4Q
Keane deliberately catches the ball with his hand and somehow gets a penalty.
This is all about hypocritical, selective moral outrage. When it’s done to “us” then it’s just cheating, immoral and the perpetrators should stand up, own up to it, tell the referee and agree to a reply.
When we do it to “them,” well, it’s just one of those things.
Ryan, yes, I watched the match. Ireland had several excellent chances and came very close, but were still unable to score — FACT. I wish they had and eliminated France because I want Domenech fired.
Posted from United States
NO VIDEO CAMERAS, NO EXTRA-REFEREES.
JOSEPH. S. BLATTER REFUSES TO CHANGE THE LAW OF THE GAME. OFF COURSE, THAT WAY HIS SO WELL ARRANGED MAFIA CAN MANIPULATE THE MATCH RESULTS.
THE LAW OF THE GAME STATES THAT DURING MATCHES, DECISIONS ARE TAKEN BY THE REFEREE AND THESE DECISIONS ARE FINAL.
ALL WE ARE SAYING IS THAT IN ORDER TO MAKE IT EASIER TO FABRICATE RESULTS, BLATTER AND HIS MAFIA WILL HAVE TO BRIBE ONE MAN ONLY. NO APPEALS ALLOWED, NO EVIDENCE GATHERING, ETC…
VIDEO CAMERAS AND EXTRA-REFEREES WILL INTERFERE WITH THE CORRUPTED LAW SCHEME.
THE ONLY WAY TO CONSIDER THIS APPEAL WOULD BE IF FRANCE HAD BEEN DEFEATED BY IRELAND IN THE SAME CIRCUMSTANCES.
HENRY CAN RAISE THE STAKES DURING A WORLD-CUP MATCH. BLATTER NEEDS HIM.
Posted from United States
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as being said again and again, the ball is round, one day the luck goes to your favour, and another day it’ll go against you…
let me just list down the type of cheats that footballers do rather frequently:
-strikers dive every now and then to get the ever so important penalty, -defenders try to conceal their foul (shirt tugging, blocking..)
-fouled players exaggerate fouls on them (roll-a-thon, spasm etc)
-goalkeepers move a few feet away from the goalline during penalties,
-throw in takers took a few seconds more than they should (time wasting)
-freekick takers move the ball forward before the freekick
-goal line clearence using hands (scholes, et all)
to name a few…
surely there is not a single footballer in this world who never done any of the listed above. hence for me its rather simple, ALL of them cheats every now and then. thats’ why the referee is there, to iron-out this kind of things. to ensure that a match is officiated properly, it’s also another reason to introduce video-referee….