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France/Ireland - World Cup play-offs
Controversial handball goal brands Henry "Le Cheat"
Article published on the 2009-11-19 Latest update 2009-11-19 15:50 TU
Les Bleus celebrate their winning goal
(Photo: Reuters)
Irish commentators have blasted French footballer Thierry Henry "Le Cheat" after he knocked Ireland out of the World Cup with a clear handball in Paris last night. Internet football forums were awash with criticisms of the skipper, while Swedish referee Martin Hansson was condemned in his homeland for missing the manoeuvre.
The luck of the Irish deserted its team when Henry's hand controlled the ball before his angled pass allowed William Gallas to head in a goal in extra time during the crucial play-off decider.
This gave France a 2-1 aggregate win in the play-off, that will see them advance to South Africa next year.
"We were robbed" said the Irish Star, while the Irish Sun splashed with "Henry, You Bastille" and the "Hand of the Frog" - a play on Maradona's 1986 "Hand of God" goal over England.
The Irish Independent said the team was "cheated" out of the World Cup finals, its headline screaming "Armed robbery". It described the incident as a "massive injustice for boys in green as referee's howler sends French to South Africa".
Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern meanwhile called on the sport's governing body, Fifa, to declare a rematch in the interests of fair play.
“It’s the least we owe the thousands of devastated young fans around the country. Otherwise, if that result remains, it reinforces the view that if you cheat, you will win,” Ahern said.
The French press was frank in its admission of the handball with the country's dedicated sports paper, L'équipe, heading its front page "the hand of god".and saying that French celebrations were more from relief than enthusiasm.
The local Paris daily, le Parisien, runs the headline "Miraculous" and describes France's qualification as "painful" and as "stained by the hand of Henry".
Meanwhile via the internet, the masses have spoken. Facebook users set up multiple groups using the name “Thierry Henry is a cheat”, while a profile page called “We Irish hate Thierry Henry (the cheat)” has more than 25,000 fans.
The wikipedia entry on Henry was locked on Thursday morning after repeated vandalism.
On the BBC's 606 forum, one member wrote: "As far as I'm concerned all the good things Henry has done in the past have been wiped out by his cheating last night."
And so what did the Frenchman himself have to say about it all?
“I will be honest,” said Henry, “it was a handball. I played it, the ref allowed it. It would have been better to do it another way, but I am not the ref.”
Algerian team soccer fans celebrate with a national flag in Marseille after the victory of Algeria over Egypt
(Photo: Reuters)
In France on Wednesday night police clashed with celebrating Algerian fans, and arrested about 150 people. After Algeria defeated Egypt to claim a place in the 2010 World Cup finals, 12,000 people arrived on the Champs Elysées to celebrate.
Police say they intervened after people began throwing projectiles in the capital. There were also clashes in Lyon and Marseille, and about 150 vehicles were set on fire around the country.
Six police officers were injured in the disturbances.
