France V Ireland - Wednesday, 18th November 2009 - World Cup 2010 Playoff Second Leg

[LFC in Exile]

sorry if it upset you, it was just a light hearted attempt at categorising you and LFCwhatever together.

Its natural to be upset after tonights outcome. To be so rational and lacking in emotion is kind of weird to me. Unless youre actually quite detached from the Irish team anyway which may be the case.

I was like an anti-christ in the pub immediately after. But then I guess I reckoned Keane or Doyle would do the same. I don't like it at all - but it is not henry's issue - the officials fu**ed up. And as long as FIFA are willing to accept this and managers/players are equivocal then we have no option but to roll with the punches.

[tricky_colour]

What happended to the "luck of the Irish"?
I think we can throw that phrase in the dustbin now!

[celticV3]

Robbed, we weren't wanted in the world cup at the expense of a "bigger" team who were worse over two legs.

[tricky_colour]

Also if you follow this link you'll hear Henry admit it was a handball, that he admitted it on the pitch but that he's not the ref, he can't change a thing or decide what should be given or not

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/8367418.st

Hopefully he gets hung for this

It didn't hit his hand, he stuck his arm out to stop it going out then it 'hit' his hand again as he steadied it so it would drop nicely for him.
Two hand balls and an offside, or maybe two players off side.
It's the linesman who is Frances 12th man, he should be sacked.

[mark12345]

As i said, this was the biggest game of many of those players lives. How can you have officials that miss 2 handballs and an offside. I think we have every right to feel robbed.

Carloz, you need to referee a game to understand how difficult it is to see things. I would be what little life savings I have that neither the ref or linesman saw the incident because they were unsighted. I am a ref and though I'm hurtin' like hell tonight I know the ref didn't see the handball, because I have srewed up in similar circumstances. You just can't see through bodies that are blocking the action.

If you want to blame someone blame the dopes that are FIFA. At minimum the game needs two refs and four linesmen because we'll be waiting forever for the fools to bring in action replay.

[Dodge]

big f*cking deal. Just because cheating happens, it doesnt make it right and it doesnt mean we cant moan about it when it affects us.

The fact that you and the Insane Limerick Posse arent so devoid of emotion is just weird and detached.

Get a grip man. I pointed out that it wasn't just football (as a previous poster said) and that its hypocritical of some here to blast Henry for cheating while not saying anything about the various incidents (mentioned in this thread) where Robbie Keane cheated. Never once did I say cheating was acceptable

There's emotin, and then there's being ridiculous.

[mark12345]

ok can i ask did anyone care that duff dived in 2002 to get ireland a penalty? if ireland had scored in a similar vein nobody would say anything

Duff dived? Not on the TV I was watching. And you're the first person I've ever heard say that? Looked to me (and I've seen it quite a few times) that he was hacked down.

[theworm2345]

"You do not blame the player if he can get away with it, it is nearly a natural reaction."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/foot...ls/8367420.stm

Agree with the Doyler

[irishultra]

Duff dived? Not on the TV I was watching. And you're the first person I've ever heard say that? Looked to me (and I've seen it quite a few times) that he was hacked down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIFCT...eature=related

this shows the difference in irish and french people. thats cheating as much as henry was. obviously the irish media didn't bring that up after the match.

[Metrostars]

Another thing, why did Lasana Diarra never a yellow card for his constant fouling? I'd say he had 8 or 9 fouls.

[DotTV]

You mean you've been playing the game for 20-odd years and it's your natural instinct to do something you've been trained not to do all that time?

Something so basic as not handling the ball?

After 20 years of training you still naturally handle the ball when it comes to you? Good Lord, I train for gaelic football half the year and still know not to stretch my hand to control the ball if it comes near me.


Bear in mind handling the ball is not integral to the game. Falling is integral: you get tackled, or 'touched' as it may be, and you fall. But you should never handle the ball. That's the skill-set of the game, and of all people Henry is skilled and experienced enough to know that. Simply, it is NEVER done. Unless you're a conniving, cheating 'person'. It is, in my opinion, actually entirely unnatural when you play.







The question then is whether to blame the "player" or the "game" - my anguish is too blinding to think clearly on that point at the moment.

Great post. And to add to it, he handled the ball TWICE. He's a cheat.

[DotTV]

Can you name me a professional sport where cheating doesn't happen or where it is dealt with effectively?Why do we put up with it? Because we have no choice.

As I said earlier, FIFA could deal with it tomorrow if they had the balls. Look at the Eduardo nonsense. It could be fixed but they don't want it. And professionals and managers know these things are swings and roundabouts. All those "foreign" divers like Gerrard, Owen, Rooney etc

As they say in Limerick - doll didey

Pro golf

[Noelys Guitar]

Here is the paragraph about the goal from the FIFA site written an hour after the game. I posted it on here earlier.

Five minutes later, France skipper Thierry Henry won the match for the hosts when his angled pass amid a goalmouth scramble was met by the head of Wiliam Gallas. The goal enabled France to qualify and avoid a repeat of their humiliating failure, at the hands of Bulgaria, to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup finals.

Here is the paragraph 2 hours after the game and now still up (spelling mistake and all).

Five minutes later, William Gallas bunled the ball home to win the match for Les Bleus. The goal enabled France to qualify and avoid a repeat of their humiliating failure, at the hands of Bulgaria, to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup finals.

A disgrace. Why change their own text and leave Henry completely out of the goal? Because they know FIFA's pre-match actions have led to a linesman and ref getting three seperate calls wrong in one passage of play. Not possible for both the linesman and ref to miss three seperate incidents in one passage of play. Plus they turned off the comments feature on our game only of the four qualifters.

Richard Dunne's comments after the game

“I’ve watched it back a few times and I think it’s quite blatant that we were cheated,” said a still visibly upset Aston Villa defender. “Realistically, it’s exactly what we thought might happen. The people who run the game have got exactly what they wanted.”

[DotTV]

Reporter: "Is that something you'd expect from a player of Henry's stature?"

Robbie: "I wouldn't expect it from anyone."

[Noelys Guitar]

I wonder if Henry now wishes if he had just let the ball go over the deadball line? I have always admired him as a player. And he strikes me as one who will suffer greatly from having his reputation shredded after this incident. It might be great for France as a team to have qualified but I bet Henry will regret what he did for the rest of his life.

[Volcán Masaya]

France could offer to replay the game. Arsenal did so after they won an FA Cup 5th round tie against Sheff Utd in '99 with a goal scored in an unsportsmanlike manner. The ball had been kicked out of play because a player was down injured. Instead of giving the ball back to Sheff with the resulting throw in they played the ball into Kanu and caught Sheff on the hop with a goal. Perfectly legit, but unsportsmanlike. Arsenal won the replay.
It would be a great act of sportsmanship on their part if the French offered to do this, and in fairness they'd be favourites to win the replay anyway.
Would be great for football as a game too. The amount of cheating that goes on and is accepted as being "part of the game" these days has ruined the sport for a lot of people.

[Reality Bites]

Henry is a Charaltan a Scumbag of the highest order... playing to the gallery by sitting beside dunne at Final whistle after robbing us some blantly - Hate is a strong word but I hate Thierry Henry for his handball and his pathetic pandering for the Camera at Full Time - Once a great player now Scumbag to me....

[SkStu]

France could offer to replay the game. Arsenal did so after they won an FA Cup 5th round tie against Sheff Utd in '99 with a goal scored in an unsportsmanlike manner. The ball had been kicked out of play because a player was down injured. Instead of giving the ball back to Sheff with the resulting throw in they played the ball into Kanu and caught Sheff on the hop with a goal. Perfectly legit, but unsportsmanlike. Arsenal won the replay.
It would be a great act of sportsmanship on their part if the French offered to do this, and in fairness they'd be favourites to win the replay anyway.
Would be great for football as a game too. The amount of cheating that goes on and is accepted as being "part of the game" these days has ruined the sport for a lot of people.

nice thought but it will never happen in a million years.

Nor should it really.

[cragandcrop]

Hello all

What a robbery !!!

I'm french, so please excuse my English.
How can I explain at which point I am ashamed to be french tonight ?
Hot news from france :
In most all medias, this stolen victory is condemned. All the french team consultants, whose who won the '98 world cup (indeed our reference) all agree to say they are disgusted of this match, the worst ever of the french soccer team.
Most all french people are saying that the irish team played much better than us, confining our players in mostly all domains all match long.
In most all forums, in most all medias by now in france, everyone is agitated with saying that this match will leave a mark in french soccer, which will take a long time to heal if it will be the case one day.
Tonight, you would have deserved to win YOUR ticket.
It's not the case. I'd like french people expresses its excuses. I do so.
BUT : please be sure that french people love irish people and really consider that we are cousins.

[yapster]

i'm not keanes biggest fan either and don't think he is a world class finisher .. but would no way blame him for ireland not winning tonight and going to world cup .. doyle missed a great headed chance / duff missed when through on goals all equally good chances as keanes .. and don't forget his goals along the way got us so close to getting to a world cup final

I agree that keane had a good campaign and kudos to him and for his effort last night but his miss turned the game around as it gave the french renewed confidence and they controlled the game from then on. Keane & Duff have more experience at this level than Doyle and their failure to put away gilt-edged chances are the main reason Ireland are out. Yes Henry and the officals are to blame as well but the game should have been sewen yp by then. When it mattered most Keane failed to deliver. He is not a top striker and never will be.