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Following the World Cup qualifying match between France and Ireland, an explosion of outrage has dominated the sporting headlines about Thierry Henry’s ‘accidental’ handling of the ball in the match which gave France their winning goal.
‘Hand of God’, ‘Hand of Frog’, ‘Cheat!’, ‘Thief!’, are just some of the more restrained headlines across the back pages of Irish, English, and French newspapers and websites.
For those not in the know, the WC qualifier second leg began with the French playing in Paris having the advantage of a 0-1 away goal lead, courtesy of an own-goal deflection.
Their advantage didn’t last long with Robbie Keane scoring a well-deserved equaliser for the Irish in a game they had dominated up to that point.
The French came back into the game in the second half, but Ireland had plenty of chances to kill off the game before the 90 minutes were up.
Extra time began, and ten minutes in a free kick was awarded to the French inside the Irish area. As the ball was kicked, it was clear that two of the French players were offside – but the linesman’s flag stayed down.
The ball arrived in near the goal post where Thierry Henry was lurking shadowed by Ireland’s McShane. The ball fell on Henry’s left had side – it was going to go out, except Henry’s hand was in the way.
As the video shots demonstrate, the French striker moved his hand to hit the ball, and then hit it a second time to move the ball towards his swinging right foot. It hit, sailed over into the box where the waiting Gallas knocked it in. 1-1 and the French up 2-1 on aggregrate.
Cue celebrations from the French crowd many of whom had been booing their team up to that point, so dominant had the Irish side been for most of the game.
Despite protests from the Irish players, the ref awarded the goal and the game moved on. Even then, there were a couple of opportunities to get another goal but they didn’t happen.
At the end, players like Robbie Keane, Shay Given, Damien Duff, and Kevin Kilbane knew they had played their last World Cup game for their country – Duff cried in exasperation and disappointment at the outcome.
The media gave Henry a roasting. The French striker admitted he had handled the ball – or rather that the ball had hit his hand. But he said it was up to the ref to spot it, and it was his fault if he hadn’t seen it.
The hugely popular footballer did his reputation no good when he was seen sitting down on the ground beside Irish defender, Richard Dunne, and commiserating with him.
He spent the rest of the time after the match going around hugging Irish players with a hang-dog expression on his face. This contrasted sharply with his delighted celebrations when Gallas had scored. Such faux-contrition did not go down well with his fans or football followers around the world.
The more sober-suited commentators have said that Ireland’s misfortune should be the straw that finally breaks the camel’s back in pressuring the football authorities to bring in video replay to the game to solve incidents like these.
Will Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini be listening, or are they simply celebrating that their plans to ensure the big names arrive in South Africa next year have worked with the seeding of the teams for the play-offs?
Like most football shockers, the inevitable furore is likely to be followed by a global shrug of the shoulders – Gallic style – and the usual refrain – that’s football for you, and we all move on.
But the Irish haven’t given up – just yet.
The Football Association of Ireland has written a formal complaint to FIFA saying that the incident was seen by millions of fans around the world, and in the interests of Fair Play the match should be replayed.
The loss of qualification has probably cost the FAI 20 million euro, though FAI Chief Executive John Delaney, said it wasn’t about the money – it was simply about seeing that Fair Play was seen to be done.
Delaney has put it up to FIFA and to the French Football Federation to see if they will accede to their request. The Ireland assistant manager, former Arsenal player, Liam Brady, and many Irish players have supported him.
Radio show phone-ins, newspaper and TV stations have covered the issue all day. The pressure on the French is growing. And the Irish Government has stepped in with Justice Minister, Dermot Ahern, also saying that there should be a replay.
The French public have joined the clamour too. During one evening drive-time Irish radio show, there was an interview with the editor of Le Monde in Paris.
They had run a poll this morning asking who deserved to go the World Cup – France or Ireland.
Over 80,000 French people responded to the poll, with over 88% saying that Ireland deserved to go through. French people are embarrassed by the manner of their qualification, and their distaste for Henry and French manager, Domenech is growing.
The Le Monde editor nearly caused a further public outburst when he reported that French people had voted for Domenech to be replaced by current Ireland manager, Giovanni Trappatoni to guarantee them success in South Africa next year.
The French love irony. It looks like this one will keep going for another few days.
Fair play to the French. They really know how to handle themselves in football.
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