By Liam FitzGibbon
November 20th 2009 @ 1:21am
Henry handles pressure, Guus misses out
Thierry Henry sparked a storm by taking matters into his own hands while Guus Hiddink’s golden touch finally went missing as next year’s World Cup line-up was finalised.
The Socceroos learned exactly which 31 teams they’ll be up against at the tournament in South Africa as France, Portugal, Greece, Slovenia, Uruguay and Algeria booked the last six spots ahead of the draw on December 4.
Former Socceroos coach Hiddink failed in his bid to get Russia to World Cup while Uruguay made amends for their defeat by Australia four years ago by edging through with a 2-1 aggregate win over Costa Rica.
But it was a deliberate case of cheating by Henry in France’s play-off win over Republic of Ireland that caused the biggest stir.
Match officials in Paris missed a double handball by the French captain in the lead-up to an extra-time goal that sealed a 1-1 draw and ultimately France’s progression.
Swedish referee Martin Hansson failed to spot Henry slapping the ball with his hand twice to stop it going over the goal line before tapping a short cross that was headed in by William Gallas for 2-1 win on aggregate.
“He almost caught it and walked into the net with it,” said Robbie Keane, who had put Ireland ahead in the 33rd minute.
Henry admitted the handballs were intentional, and refused to apologise or express any sympathy for Ireland.
“I will be honest, it was a handball. But I’m not the ref,” Henry said of the goal, quickly dubbed the Hand of Frog in reference Diego Maradona’s famous Hand of God goal at the 1986 World Cup.
“I played it. The ref allowed it. That’s a question you should ask him.”
Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni was livid and had to be calmed by officials.
Sydney Swans‘ Irish AFL star Tadhg Kennelly summed up the thoughts of his compatriots, labelling Henry an “absolute cheat” when shown it during a Sydney television interview.
Meanwhile Hiddink seemingly lost his Midas touch as a nine-man Russia went down to Slovenia, who qualified for only their second World Cup finals on Wednesday with a 1-0 win in Maribor.
Striker Zlatko Dedic scored the only goal just before the break, while Hiddink’s side was reduced to nine men in the second half when Alexander Kerzhakov and Yuri Zhirkov were both sent off.
Russia had won the first leg 2-1 in Moscow on Saturday, but Slovenia’s win on Wednesday meant they qualified on the away goals rule.
Hiddink famously led South Korea to the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup before taking Australia to the round of 16 in Germany in 2006.
He also steered Russia to the semi-finals of Euro 2008, and Chelsea to the FA Cup last season, but could not apply the same trademark magic this time around, leaving his coaching future up in the air.
In the other European playoffs, Portugal ensured Cristiano Ronaldo’s presence in South Africa with a 1-0 win at Bosnia-Herzegovina, a Raul Meireles’ second-half goal ensuring a 2-0 aggregate win.
Greece scored an upset 1-0 win at Ukraine on Dimitrios Salpigidis’ 31st-minute goal for a 2-1 aggregate victory to appear in their first finals since 1994.
Algeria secured the last African spot and their first finals appearance since 1986 by beating Egypt 1-0 in a tie-breaker playoff at Khartoum, Sudan.
Two-time world champions Uruguay drew 1-1 with Costa Rica in Montevideo to progress 2-1 on aggregate and erase the heartache suffered at the hands of the Socceroos in Sydney four years ago.
Betting odds for the 2010 FIFA World Cup after the 32 teams were finalised on Thursday:
$5.50 Brazil, Spain
$7 England
$8 Argentina
$11 Germany
$13 Holland, Italy
$17 France, Portugal
$21 Ivory Coast
$41 Australia, Chile, Ghana
$51 Paraguay, Serbia
$67 Cameroon, Mexico, USA
$81 Denmark, Greece, Nigeria, South Africa, Uruguay
$126 Switzerland
$151 Japan, Slovenia
$201 Algeria, Slovakia, South Korea
$501 Honduras, North Korea
$751 New Zealand
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