Trap's dreams denied by missed chances and underhand tricks
Cascarino: Henry is an insincere cheat
Richard Williams: How Henry could have handled it all so differently
Maher: Ireland hard done by
Barclay: Lucky Domenech spared trial by video
Lee Dixon: Henry has tainted his reputation
Amy Lawrence: Trap finds no luck
Bitter Keane blasts FIFA, UEFA & Platini
Fifa rejects calls for replay after Henry handball
11 comments:
NONSENSE. The self-rightous crap is pathetic. Name a footballer who has ever admitted that he got away with something in the middle of a big game. The moaning is a a bunch of shite and I agree with the irish arseblogger:
Look, it was a handball, he cheated, no question about it. Would I have preferred he didn't do it? Of course. Is it the only reason Ireland didn't qualify for the World Cup? No. Thierry is now Ireland's most hated man, there are Facebook groups and websites with Guestbooks where you can register and call him whatever name you want, but for me it's a real shame that professional sports writers are talking about Henry ruining his reputation as if this is what defines his career. They ought to hang their heads and get some perspective.
You had pundits last night, players who actually played the game, who suggested that Henry should have told the ref he'd handled it. Seriously! As if they would have when they were playing. As if an Irish player would have if he'd done it. The soapboxing was unreal and, frankly, bullshit. For anyone who has played the game - AT ANY LEVEL - to say that they would have told the referee they handled it out of good sportsmanship is a liar. And when World Cup qualification is on the table? Give me a break.
If it had been against Serbia, for example, would anyone give a shit? Same thing as the Eduardo dive, isn't it? Everyone's got a soft spot for good old Celtic and sure aren't the Irish great craic, therefore the anger and outraged is multiplied. And I'm an Irishman so I won't be lectured to by English journalists about how I should feel about what happened or Thierry Henry. But there wouldn't be 10% of the fuss if he'd done the same thing against some swarthy eastern Europeans. And if the shoe had been on the other foot, or the glove on the other hand, perhaps, would there be such a ferocious reaction about how the nasty Irish had cheated the French? I don't think so. I dare to say those in the English press might have had a good laugh at the expense of their cross-channel rivals. And how many Irishmen laughed at Maradona in 1986? Perhaps it's not quite so funny now.
He should not have handled it but he did. Ireland should have scored at least one more goal but they didn't and how many times have we watched football for something like this to happen? Thierry has been a magnificent footballer, he has won practically every medal there is to win (sadly one in particular with that scabby lot in Spain), and that for me is how he'll be remembered, despite the efforts of some to sully that.
Is Michael Owen remembered only for his blatant dive against Argentina? Wayne Rooney for diving to win that penalty at Old Trafford? No. They are all pieces of instinctive cheating, it happens in football since time immemorial and will continue to do so. And let's not jump on our high horses as Arsenal fans when we've had players who have, down the years, done exactly the same, to score goals and win games for us.
By all means be pissed off at Henry but if you let what happened last night somehow tarnish what he did for us then, in my humble opinion, that'd be wrong.
This sucks for the sport and for both teams. Ireland was robbed and Henry and the French will both be reminded of this play every time they play in the WC. They won't replay it but if they did it would be good for EVERYONE. France would probably go through - this time without the cloud. Ireland would not feel jobbed but that they lost on the pitch. And the game as a whole would seem cleaner than it is. This was an extra time goal in the final leg of qualification for a every 4 year tourney - not a league game. The stakes were higher in this game and for this goal than in most other cases of dodgy calls.
If they replayed this game it would be very very bad for the game.
The outcry is ridiculous. Cascarino?! Is he serious? Come on, now. I agree with Arseblogger. Shockinig, I know, but true. Especially his comments about if the opposition had been different.
I disagree making a obvious and admitted wrong correct would not be horrible for the game. It would help the game overcome an image of a game filled with divers and whiners.
And dude, there are people in the world who would have admitted the hand ball. While I realize that most would not, some would. And that "everyone" might cheat does not justify the cheating. Nor should it stop the indictment of those who do cheat. Right is still right and wrong is still wrong no matter how accepted it is.
I am not saying Henry is a horrible person for not admitting it. No, he's just another run of the mill asshole like most footballers. And that IMHO was NOT his image before this happened.
Re-horrible for the game. If you replay this then you have to replay the dodgy called games between Bahrain-Saudi Arabia, Czech-Slovenia, Ecuador-Paraguay, El Salvador-Costa Rica......all of these 'cost' a team a spot.
I'm no fan of the slippery slope argument but this stuff happens all the time. Ireland had 10 games of Euro qualifying plus 180 minutes to score 2 goals against a poorly coached French side. This bad decision did not cost them the spot. Robbie Keane and John O'shite being crap finishers did. You can isolate any one moment (Anelka penalty) and point to it but we all know thats bollocks.
This isn't to say that if it happened to the Arsenal or to the USMNT in a huge game, I would not be livid. I would be and I'd want to murder the cheating tw*t who cost my side. There is no reason or logic in supporting a football side. Those of us who can step back and see that Ireland are a crap side and that the persecution crap, while understandable, is just silly. FIFA don't love France.
Re cheaters: Name an incident where a professional athlete voluntarily admitted something similar. There is no way you can find anything similar. We've all used our hand to control a ball before...its instinct...you don't hit pause and consider the right and wrong of it. And afterwords you owe it to your team, country, and employer to let the ref do his job (make calls) while you do yours (Win). This doesn't make what he did right....it just doesn't....but it doesn't make him a run of the mill asshole either. Henry is....a..well he has....a ...certain....je ne sais quoi.
"And dude, there are people in the world who would have admitted the hand ball. While I realize that most would not, some would."
I would have to disagree, frkh2o. Not at this level. Nobody, and I mean nobody, would turn to the ref and say he had used his hand after his team had scored the crucial goal. It simply does not happen and never will.
<< hearts Henry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87lSrjNskBw
handballs, dives, dirty tackles, bad calls ... however unfortunate, these are parts of the game that will never go away. may i remind you of diego maradona? he will always be regarded as one of the best (some say best) players to have graced this wonderful game. so please don't blame henry, he's just playing to win. blame the refs... it was their mistake(s).
My biggest turn off to this sport is the players efforts to undermine the sport. Taking a dive (which from my limited experiencing watching soccer) is so rampant in soccer that I can only believe that it is encouraged. It is against the very essence of competition.
It is strongly penalized in the 4 major sports and highly frowned upon. If a football player goes down it is because he can't get up, he's not jumping around the ground every two minutes, crying like a little girl to the referee to make a call. In basketball, the influx of Europeans brought similar practices and the NBA responded by penalizing players on and off the court. It was not tolerated
Soccer should be about skill and competition. The ultimate goal being to score. Not to win by tricking the referee. When I watched the championship game of the last world cup and saw a French player go down in Italian teams goal zone and actually get a call from it, I lost all interest and the sport and havnt watched a game since.
Like any professional sport, if you cheat you should be disqualified. FIFA has set a precedence with Maradona and now wholeheartedly encourages cheating in the sport. If you don't try to cheat then don't complain about those who cheated.
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