Henry. He is a - no can't post here what I'd like to call him. Cheat seems too nice. Cheat cheat cheat.

it was a disgrace. accidental hand-balls are very common in football and often get punished. this was fully intentional cheating by henry though, he even handled it twice! 2 of their players were off-side also when the free-kick was taken. video referrals need to be introduced. these mistakes by officials are causing too much damage to the game. i hope the french don't make it past the group stages in s. africa, they don't deserve to be there. and anelka's dive trying to get a penalty!

a team of cheating prima donnas

Let me preface this by saying I was rooting for Ireland, they got hosed, and that I'll be rooting against France in the world cup next year.  But I do have a few points:

1)  This lambasting of Henry is a bit ridiculous.  What he did was somewhat intentional (i still think it was a reaction play but it wasn't an accident) but it's no different than many handballs we see in soccer games; it's a kicked ball in basketball; it's a holding call in football; it was a violation of the rules but hardly cheating.  (the rugby player who brought a packet of blood onto the field is much closer to cheating).  The outrage ought to be at the referees, not Henry.  If the ref had called the handball, French fans may get on Henry for wasting an opportunity in the six-yard box but the Irish fans would not be crushing him for being a cheat.  The issue here isn't what Henry did.  it was a foul. we all know this.  The issue is the the entire refereeing system missing the foul.

2)  And to that end, our outrage against the refs on the field should be somewhat tempered.  I fully believe that none of the refs on the field saw the foul.  if they did see it and didn't call it, we have a MUCH bigger problem on our hands.  But assuming no intentional bias, then we have to ask a) why the 4th ref didn't see it with his improved point of view and, more importantly, b) why oh why does FIFA not have some kind of instant replay review/challenge system to protect against such grievous errors?  that's the big issue for me.  the refereeing system needs to be improved to incorporate such a review;  almost all major sports have an instant replay review system in place.

3)  These calls for a replay of the game are ridiculous.  You can't do that for some missed call (again, i'm assuming that there was no intentional bias).  The Bahrain-Uzbekistan 2005 replay was a direct result of a misapplication of the rules by the referee.  That is a far cry from a blown call.  Blown calls happen every weekend in sports; misapplication of the rules are entirely different.

4)  Henry was under no obligation to go to the ref and turn himself in (regardless of what Arsene Wenger did years ago);  this is not golf where players are expected to police themselves.   There is an entire refereeing system in place (albeit flawed) whose sole purpose is to penalize any and all infractions.  Henry should have been given a yellow or red card for his hand ball and there should have been a free kick for Ireland.  but you can't put this on Henry.

but again, make no mistake.  Ireland got screwed...but by a flawed system, not by Henry.

Indeed the ref should have noticed. If he did, why didnt the linesmen? What were they doing?  That ref should not be allowed ref an under 10s Sunday afternoon game.

Rules are rules, and fifa are bound. There will be no replay unless France offers it, and will they? God no. and remember, if it was the other way about, Ireland would be giving the fingers up to France.

Henry was and should be ogliged to tell the ref. He knew he handball-ed it, and was obliged - it cant be the only sport that this doesnt happen, and whay kind of role model is he to anyone. He's a cheat with or without getting away with it.

Ref was apauling. Henry has how debased his playing by cheating. And there's be no replay because of both of these. Result? "Small insignificent soccer nation that isnt Portugal/Spain/France/Germany" out of World Cup. Which is what Fifa wanted all along

imedi,

Loved your post. I'm glad someone else follows "The Beautiful Game." I tried to relay this sentiment about how upset Larry is about the game, but some other lady got uptight about sports. Believe me, I'm staying away from Love Larry Thread. I'm new to the forum. I have met Larry in the past and I know him a bit. I had some delightful conversations with him...he is passionate about his football. Anyway, Bono was getting an award so I'm not sure he was in Paris. But you're right about Bono asking for the game to be re-played.

thanks .......love football but there is too much of this type of thing going on diving , looking to get opponents sent off, people prending to be injured ie drogba i am starting to think rugby is a much better game none of this cheating

eh, ive always thought of Maradona as a legend after scoring with his hand

the difference here is that guy didnt score with his hand

I love football, and felt kind of sorry for Ireland... until all the moaning started and my sympathy soon vanished.

Every football player, manager & supporter knows you win some and lose some because of "bad" decisions. It's part of the game, and if you can't deal with that then go watch something else.

Throughout the qualifying campaign Ireland will have had decisions that have gone their way - I believe Roy Keane today pointed out they were only in the play-offs thanks in part to a rather soft penalty award, for example.

When something goes against you in a game you have 89 other minutes to put it right. Given this was over 2 legs and extra time, then that adds up to another 209 minutes of football.

Throughout all those other minutes the referee made many decisions. Some would inevitably have been wrong. You can't possibly know if one of those other wrong decisions prevented a passage of play that would have resulted in France scoring, or indeed added up to lead to the passage that created Irelands goal. I guess it's sort of a "chaos theory" type situation, and you have to take the point of view that normally over the course of the match the best team will prevail.

Your comments are valid Silver Lining if you're talking about decisions and outcomes based on legitimate human error and honest intent. Offside decisions are a perfect example. Outcomes of matches are decided on the split second opinon of an assistant referee - some you win, some you loose. But what rankles in this instance is that it was a deliberate and deceitful action that went unnoticed and unpunished.

Your comments are valid Silver Lining if you're talking about decisions and outcomes based on legitimate human error and honest intent. Offside decisions are a perfect example. Outcomes of matches are decided on the split second opinon of an assistant referee - some you win, some you loose. But what rankles in this instance is that it was a deliberate and deceitful action that went unnoticed and unpunished.

well said..... its not about weather or not ireland play in the world cup or not this goes much deeper that that. its this acceptance  in football that its ok to con and cheat refs and its getting worse this game is loseing fans every year because of this type of thing and something has to be done to stamp it out

Agree totally. Diving to obtain penalties, feigning injury and the illegal use of the hands are all a blight on the beautiful game. Whatever happened to integrity and fair play

Your comments are valid Silver Lining if you're talking about decisions and outcomes based on legitimate human error and honest intent. Offside decisions are a perfect example. Outcomes of matches are decided on the split second opinon of an assistant referee - some you win, some you loose. But what rankles in this instance is that it was a deliberate and deceitful action that went unnoticed and unpunished.

it appears we are talking apples and oranges here.  It seems some of us believe that the refs just missed it and that's the travesty.  Others believe that the refs did see it and intentionally didn't make the call.  in my eyes, the former happens all the time and is not worthy of a replay.  the latter might require a replay.  I believe the refs didn't see the foul.

i think it's entirely possible that the refs missed the call, their view could have been blocked by other players.  i'm sure that happens all the time in a crowded penalty box.

what Henry did was no different than what Ngog did for Liverpool v. Birmingham last week.  the refs blew it.  it happens.  get over it.  (yes, Ngog is French also).

if we start allowing replays, do you have any idea what can of worms this would open?

You know, Ive rather calmed down, and quite settled with the though that not just the ref was awful, and Mr. Henry cheated, but also I feel quite calm at the fact now Im convinced Fifa dont care and once France get through (and little countries like Ireland dont), no amount of shouting nor the blame game is gonna change anything

Australians are still bitter about being eliminated from the last World Cup thanks to a swan-diving Italian,

They shouldn't be. They were thoroughly outplayed when the teams had the the same number of players and the sending off of the Italian in the first half was a travesty. A soft penalty but a fair result. The better team won.

Just got back from my last soccer game, and the last game i would ever have with my assistant coach because we wouldnt have him next year, after the game i made fun of him for liking and being from France

You know, Ive rather calmed down, and quite settled with the though that not just the ref was awful, and Mr. Henry cheated, but also I feel quite calm at the fact now Im convinced Fifa dont care and once France get through (and little countries like Ireland dont), no amount of shouting nor the blame game is gonna change anything

At least he admits to it and wants a rematch.

(((hugs))), Davey!