France - football

Domenech defends Henry handball

Article published on the 2009-11-25 Latest update 2009-11-25 15:23 TU

France coach Raymond Domenech
(Photo: Reuters)

France coach Raymond Domenech has finally spoken out about the controversial Thierry Henry handball that enabled his team to qualify for next year’s World Cup in South Africa.

A week after the match against Ireland in Paris – which ended 1-1 thanks to Henry’s handball and subsequent assist to goalscorer William Gallas – Domenech has come in strong support of his captain who has been branded as a cheat across the world, even in France.

"It made me furious that Thierry can be treated this way,'' the France boss told www.lexpress.fr.

"I did not slept for two days and I am just starting to get over it. When France were given an unjustified red card against the Serbs, Serbia did not launch a campaign to denigrate its team.''

Domenech and Henry are known not to see eye to eye on team matters but the coach stood squarely behind Henry, playing down the striker’s comments in L’Equipe on Monday that he had considered quitting.

"No, I do not think so,'' he said. "But when I called, he was like all of us - surprised, stunned. I have tremendous respect for him as a man and a footballer.

"Titi (Henry) is one of the most talented players in the history of French football. We qualified for the World Cup. For months now, despite his injury, he participated in all our matches at the risk of being yelled at by his club, Barcelona. Les Bleus is his reason for living as a footballer.''

Last week Henry admitted that the fairest solution to stop the row was to have a rematch, something that the Irish Football Association requested only to be turned down by Fifa, world football’s governing body.

"It would have been impossible,” said Domenech.

“Or it should be done after every incident that goes unpunished. Let's solve the problem of refereeing - that is the real debate.''

Domenech also responded to criticism from former player Eric Cantona who described him as the worst coach since Louis XVI.

"I did not know that Louis XVI had been a coach,'' quipped Domenech.

"I put Cantona in the same batch as the others. He is coach of a beach soccer team and failed to qualify his team for the World Cup. He should show decency!''