Thierry Henry certainly isn't making any Irish eyes smile tonight.
Ireland is fuming after Henry admittedly handled a ball that he immediately played to William Gallas who put it in the net to tie Ireland at 1-1 and send France into the World Cup virtue of a 2-1 aggregate victory.
Here's a video of Henry's incident:
In my book, it's a complete shame that Ireland failed to make the World Cup because of such an obvious hand ball. The move isn't exactly on par with Maradona's infamous "Hand of God" play, but it's just as crappy for Ireland -- who haven't made the Finals since 2002.
After the game, Ireland defender Sean St Ledger made a passionate call for replay to be introduced into soccer and I definitely see where he is coming from. I don't think that official should be able to review every little thing -- but balls that may or may not have crossed the goal line and blatant hand balls that lead to goals like this would certainly fall under the replay system I would like to see introduced. There really isn't a whole lot of reason to not use it. Goals are just too important to be allowed -- or disallowed -- incorrectly.
5 Comments
milicz said:
The luck of the Irish is clearly a myth.
Fireman451 said:
Sam,
How does this relate to letting Denis Hamlett go again? I'd like to read stories that pertain to Denis not being invited to come back next year. Can Thierry's handball somehow be used to expedite Denis' departure? Please let us know.
Thanks!
Guillermo said:
LOL! I second that!
patrickhattrick said:
This is an outrage for all of us Irish. FIFA should deny France a World Cup berth and give it to Ireland instead for such a terrible officiating mistake. Now look at me: I'm a Fire, Liverpool, and Ireland fan and between the beachball goal, Hamlett, and the Hand of Thierry, I'm getting fed up.
Doug said:
The Irish should temper their outrage. France should have been given a penalty not long before the non-call on handling.
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