I haven’t seen it yet but heard the furore about the handball and it seems it was pretty obvious.

Even at the ripe old age of 56, I am still involved in local football and have been since I left school and there has ALWAYS been a level of ’cheating’ whether its a little trip, handball, offside goals, etc. In all honestly how many of us actually playing football would, using last night's example, handled the ball and then stopped, stood up and said to the ref, ’That was handball ref it should be a free kick’?! Can you imagine the reaction of your team mates, your supporters, etc.

We’ve all seen the televised ’no goals’ that have been scored, balls that were not even in the goal being given, those that were obviously a goal not being given. Did any of those teams stand up and not accept the decision of the goal that never was. Can you imagine the outfall from that.

I can only ever remember once when a team ’allowed’ the opposition to score from kick off after they scored a dubious goal. But in general the responsibility lies with the officials and, until they get their act into gear, this will continue (Ngog anyone?)

The useless twats in power need to bring in video technology to stop all this happening, the referees need to be accountable because these decisions are costing players, teams, countries thousands of pounds (and more) by their incompetence and until they do it will continue and we will keep seeing ridiculous decisions spoiling our game.
It is not up to the player to make the decision for the ref just because they can’t do their job properly.
This lies purely down to refereeing, it is their responsibility; if video technology is in all major sports now, how come football is resisting it, its a disgrace.

It does beg the question as to what the fuck the point is of the fourth official in the stands who could surely be watching one of the numerous cameras, the handball was blatant but its not the first time its happened and wont be the last. The conspiracy theorists will always say these type of decisions tend to come out in favour of the media darlings and more glamorous teams.

To end simulation and cheating amongst all teams would take some pretty harsh punishment being introduced such as a straight three match ban for the player(s) involved and a hefty fine for their club. About as likely to happen as Everton buying new players on the first day of the transfer window.

To be honest the whole play-offs affair leaves a very bad taste in the mouth.

A couple of marquee teams look like struggling and suddenly FIFA decide that the play-offs should be seeded in the interests of...errr, what? Helping France and Portugal get to the finals?

Then, when France look like they’re struggling in the play-off, the referee decides to cast a blind eye to an obvious hand ball.

When you combine these sort of events with the ludicrous greedy twats running the Premier League suggesting a two-tier system to further kill off the real football league, the agents scalping cash off the gravy train and average players being paid more than an average annual salary each week, then it’s pretty clear that something is rotten in the state of football.

I for one am looking forward to the bubble bursting as soon as possible.

I think in last nights game the fourth official should have said quietly in the refs headset, "Look mate that was a handball, go over to the linesman pretend to have a chat and then send Henry off and disallow the goal, ps dont mention i told you as video refs aren't allowed."

Another point: Ireland allowed themselves to be in a position where they were knocked out, if they had played like that before, they would have automatically qualified.

Unfortunately Ciaran, Honesty has to come from the top, and over the years, how honest have Eufa or Fifa been?

What I have experienced over the years with dubious refereeing decisions, and the politics of the governing bodies... It's the big boys who will always get the vote.

What makes it worse for me is that the ref was having a stormer of a game. I commented that it was open to a contraversial penalty because he was having such a good game and it always happens. The referee was completely unsighted but the lino wasn’t.

What is ironic is that the 28th lino, as per the Europa Cup games, would have been standing in that exact spot and seen it right away. If it’s good enough for the Europa Cup, I feel it should have been used for a do or die qualifying game for the World Cup.

Completely agree with Iain, the 4th official should have had a word becasue of how blatent it was and how important the goal was in the grand scheme of things.

The whole thing stinks to high heaven. The seeding issue was the most blatant act of favouritism and to top it with a goal of that kind just killed another piece of my love for the game.

As an Evertonian we are suffering due to the imbalanced nature of the game when it comes to finances and the complete bias towards the CL teams. To have this now added to International football has for me put another nail in my football loving coffin.

The game is now farcical to the point that I get more pleasure from watching my local VODCAT northern league team play than I do from watching anything related to the PL .

I am still seething after last night, but as Robbie Keane said, Blatter and Platini will be shaking hands this morning after a job well done.

Fifa, Platini, Blatter and the rest of the overstuffed free lunch brigade continuously bang on about fair play, respect, kick out racism etc. Well now they have a perfect opportunity to correct a wrong and show all’s fair within the game, by either.

A) Banning Henry from the group matches in the finals.

or

B) Having the game replayed.

Will they do either, no they’ll stop the ref doing another international for a few months. The spineless cheating bastards are as bad as Henry. It would take less than 10 Seconds on a monitor: no goal; booking; goal kick — sorted.

I watched the game on French tv and the commentators were very quiet following the incident. They saw it, they admitted it and they were audibly ashamed until the final whistle, making very few comments. One of the invited expert commentators was Arsene Wenger, the other a former player and coach. You could sense the malaise all around. It was awful, literally nauseating.

Agree with comments above: referee had had an excellent game and more crucially, what the hell was the 4th official doing not having a word in the ref’s shell-like?? Surely that’s his job!

But don’t go down the conspiracy theory: yes seeding was a disgrace but this match was not fixed (just remember the peno not given — correctly imo).

Gutted for the Irish who clearly were the better team.

French coach is utter tripe and most Fr people want him out. Shame he’ll still be there ruining the team in RSA.

Uefa & Fifa ain’t got the balls or more importantly the will to repair the damage last night will have done to football in general. But I don’t think France will get much support in RSA. Let’s hope they repeat their "exploits" of 2002 (reigning World Champs, 0 goals scored, 0 wins, straight out at the group stage).

Anyway, back to the only team that matters... (but I still feel sick).

If that had happened to France, Platini himself would have been out errecting cameras at each end of the fucking pitch this morning!

It’s bad enough that it happened, but for such a talented player to resort to that is sickening.

And the cheek of the cunt to sit down with Dunne and commiserate with him. I hope they enjoy their World Cup. Wankers.

And the referee was a fucking disgrace too... gave them everything and let their players jump all over us.

Conspiracy... I don’t normally give such theories any weight but between the seedings issue and the ref last night... well, grassy fuckin knoll.

It is every Irishman’s duty to never buy a Gillete razor ever again.

Players have been cheating since the game was invented, Refs and Linesmen have been fucking up for about the same length of time, it's part and parcel.

No conspiracy here boys, just a nasty taste in the mouth. Henry was prepared to crawl in the gutter. The Irish boys weren’t.

Just what is exactly the point of the 4th official? It was a complete joke. The reason why Goal line technology isn’t present yet is because Fifa, Uefa, the FA are a fucking old boys club.

Uefa's pathetic attempt at having extra match officials at Europa games whilst a couple of camera crews in each half could do the trick. Bit of a false economy. Seems to me they are scared of technology.

As for the witch hunt Eduardo was subject too with his diving antics, does Uefa or who ever take a less dim view of last night's events? It will be interesting to what they do...

"And the referee was a fucking disgrace too....gave them everything and let their players jump all over us."

No he wasn’t Ciaran, he did give that skinny defender licence to throw people to the floor and constantly run into people on purpose but apart from that he had a great game. How many refs would have given a penalty for Anelka’s dive, quite a few probably.

All cheating aside Keane should be shot and Duff needs to realise his right foot is for more than standing on. You should have been out of sight at the end of 90 minutes, they were a terrible side.

I have only just seen the incident ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFz_VNTdjyU ) and am gobsmacked. The way BBC Football live text described it I assumed the incident happened around the half way line and then the French broke away and scored. I also thought it sounded pretty accidental. But Henry knew exactly what he was doing and he was practically on the goal line.
Unbelievable Jeff.

No, of course there are no conspiracies in football. Remember Liverpool 2005, did not qualify for next years CL. What happens? Change the rules and allow them in.

Then Uefa have a problem with possibly 5 English teams in the groups, what happens, we are drawn against Villareal, Liverpool against a Welsh team, bring Collina out of retirement for the 2nd leg to make sure Everton don't qualify for the group stages.

The most sickening thing about Henry is HE blamed the ref, why did he not own up, he is as bad as the rest of the cheats who populate this game, he has stolen the dreams of a nation who deserved to be in SA.

I have great sympathy with the Irish over the incident with Henry but this thing has gone on ever since I first watched football (and played it) in 1950. I honestly feel that there is so much hypocrisy displayed especially by pundits who played the game and others.

Franny Lee who played for Man City and England was the best diver I ever saw and that includes all the present day players... and I vividly remember Ipswich who had an England centre forward named Ray Crawford who scored the most blatant hand ball goal in a 1-1 draw at Goodison back in the sixties and the Ipswich manager was... Bobby Robson!!

EVERY footballer will score a goal with whatever means possible and that has been apparant at every level of the game... Scholes scored a very dodgy goal for England some years ago and I can well remember dodgy goals scored by most of the top sides including the Blues. So long as we keep ’Human Error’ as a factor in the game then this will continue.

If we use technology to detect ’diving and hand ball’ then that might prevent these situations and punish the culprits. Until this happens, errors will continue to be made and infractions continue.

Just forget the hypocrisy and remember that Henry is no worse and no better than any other footballer. Most managers dont see these incidents if they are on the winning side, and I'm absolutely certain that the players who get away with the infractions do not get punished by their clubs.

If the ref was a disgrace, the Linesman was a bigger disgrace.

Why did it happen?

I believe coz FIFA are totally fucking corrupt and It’s ALL about revenue.

You think Fifa, McDonalds, Gillette or Coke want ’Zinedine Kilbane’ going to S.Africa instead of Henry?

FIFA changed the seeding rules a few weeks back when it looked like France, Russia, Portugal could all miss out.

In my opinion, the teams not seeded should have said, then and there "You can fuck off - we’re not competing".

That would have dropped Fifa right in the shite.

But they didn’t and if fuck-all is done in the way of protest, why would Blatter (or anyone) change anything?

Last night, the linesman was directly in line with everything (ie: at LEAST one offside, plus a double hand-ball) and never even looked like raising the flag.

There was NOBODY blocking his view.

I’m no conspiracy theorist, but I DO believe that had Ireland scored that goal, the ref would have blown so hard, dogs in Belgium would have been pricking their ears (and the linesman would have looked like someone on angel-dust attempting semaphore).

But I suppose we’ll never know.

GO ALL THE INTERNATIONAL SIDES CONTAINING EVERTON PLAYERS!! (But... not so hard they get injured.)

It is difficult to see from the replays, especially in real time, if Henry did it on purpose. I think not. What really annoys me is that he ran off like a loon celebrating. Bastard.
If its given, of course he’s not going to try and persuade the ref otherwise, but at least walk back to your own half showing some decency.

We dont need extra refs behind goals, we just need the fourth official to look at instant replays on proffesional fouls (dives), and incidents in the penalty box.

And 3 match bans should be in place for any cheating. Such laws a preventative measure to stop it from happening. Not that Henry would get one.

From what I hear on the news, Ireland want a replay, but Fifa wont allow that, they got their money spinner in le tounoir!

About 40 years ago any illusions I had about fairness in football was shattered.

Bobby Charlton opened my eyes when he said that a goal scorer should have been brought down. With a look of mock shock Jimmy Hill his fellow panellist said,’Surely Bobby, you are not suggesting Clarke (the scorer) should have been deliberately fouled’.

In reply Bobby’s exact words were, ‘Alf Ramsay would have had our guts for garters had he not been brought down’. Then he went on to call it a Professional Foul and that was the first time I had heard that unsportsmanlike expression.
Is David Moyes in the right as the only premier league manager to order his players not to indulge in such shady things.

So what, Henry cheated? Fair play to him, he got France through to the World Cup finals. Henry played within the rules, had the referee spotted it, he would have booked him and awarded a free kick. He got away with it, like a defender who fouls, pulls back a player. Up to referee to sort it out.

To stop it, rule book needed to be changed, i.e. 15 match ban for players who deliberately handball resulting in a goal or dive resulting in a penalty. It would then stop these aspects of cheating. Technology for goals would assist too. Until then, tough cheddar.

Oh, when Limpar dived in 94 to win us a penalty, he cheated, but I’m bloody glad he did.

Tech-No

(Reason 1) The Beautiful Game
Football is probably the most played and watched sport in the world. Part of the magic of the game, for me, is the the top professional players are playing essentially the same game to the game that oiks like me play on a Sunday. Introducing Technology at the top will change the game and make it different to the game at the bottom. Small difference at first but as more is introduced, and players adapt their game due to effect of technology...

(Reason 2) Referee development.
The referres at the top level should be the ones pushing forward the standard of refereeing. If all the major decisions at the top level are checked by technology, then refereeing at the top level becomes easier than refereeing at lower levels. Certain skills become less important at the top level. Top level referees become less useful as role models for lower level referees.

(3 What I would do instead of technology) Pay top referrees LOADS of money and pick them on performance.
Pay Premier League referees £8k per game and the effect will be
- More people will want to become referees, dreaming of hitting the top.
- More QUALITY people will want to become referrees.
- More ex-players will want to become referees.
- Competition will be increased - more motivation & more good people to beat to be able to ref the top games
- Knock on effect of improving refereeing in the lower leagues as refs compete to get to the top league.
- Improve refs at all levels as the role models at the top would be better.
Cost for Premier league would be £6m per year to pay refs £8k per game and linos £4k per game. £300k per club per year. This cost is very small in comparison to the budget of a Premier League club.

The FIFA/UEFA odds-tilting stopped when the game kicked-off.

The ref made a (BIG) mistake but was unsighted. When you view in real time and not on the pitch-side camera views you cannot see the hand(s).

However the questions that UEFA/FIFA should now be asking themselves are who can the ref consult (linesman, 4th official, the player himself).
If the ref went to speak to the linesman he must have had a doubt, so why not speak to the 4th official.
Ideally he should even have gone to see Henry and asked him to be honest - does that sound so fantastic ?
"Now lad, be honest, did you touch the ball deliberately with your hand ? It’s important you tell me the truth. I won’t send you off if you say yes."

As others have said, it’s basically instinctive to handle in that situation (like defending shots on the goal-line). But after a short calming down (30 seconds ?) once emotions are a little less impassioned, maybe the player himself might admit it given the chance.
Surely he must feel bad himself today ?
Cheating bastard !

Even some French radio callers-in are saying there should be a re-match.

Not a chance.

Against my better nature and only because I am still seething I have sent the following email to Fifa. I imagine their inbox will be lively today.

---

In the spirit of true sportsmanship and fairness will the game between France and Ireland be replayed? It is apparant to the entire footballing community that Thierry Henry handled the ball which led to the ’winning’ goal. Will FIFA act in accordance with the rules of the game and give the Irish the opportunity to qualify fairly?

The eyes of the world are on you FIFA, Are you strong enough to admit errors and move with the times?

Yes , it IS about time football moved into the next era and introduced video judgement on these sort of incidents. If it can work in rugby, I am quite sure it is not too difficult to make a difference in football too.

How can it be possible to use recorded incidents of, for example a punch thrown or off the ball situations to punish players, yet when they CHEAT, as Henry did so blatantly yesterday, then it is accepted as "part of the game"....?

It makes me angry to think of the fantastic lift Irish football should have had and deserved by beating France away and qualifying for the World Cup.

This is nothing but a travesty and the result should not be allowed to stand...

"No he wasn’t Ciaran, he did give that skinny defender licence to throw people to the floor and constantly run into people on purpose but apart from that he had a great game"
------------------------

Oh right, so what you’re saying is that he had a great game apart from letting the French get away with murder!

Sacre Bleu!

He was good in teh second half... First half he was an absolute fucking disgrace..

Still gutted over last night's display of cheatball. France were outplayed all over the park and for them to go through by the ’Hand of Knob’ is just a disgrace!

Nothing will be done about this of course, in my opinion though it's just another example of football going further down the toilet. Some might say things like this are part and parcel of the game, bollox to that, there are some decisions/incidents that players must be called up over, and in hindsight, Henry must surely be held accountable for blatant cheating!

Ireland were a joy to watch last night and had France won it by a moment of magic then fair play to them but to watch Henry juggle the ball with his fucking hand and get away with it, well I'm afraid that's just not football.

’Henry played within the rules’

----------------------------------

What an absolutely fuckin moronic statement... Handball is not ’within the rules’ you clown...

In fact the name of the game kind of gives that pertinent fact away..

It reminds me of the Collina affair and Big Dunc’s disallowed goal a few years ago.

We all know FIFA will do diddly squat. I’d love it if they declared the result void and ordered a replay but it ain’t gonna happen.

Will be all the more symbolic when they knock England out in the quarter finals or something.

Cheating piece of shit and whatever he's done in the game, many will remember him for that.

Also, weren’t the authorities going to spank Eduardo for his dive only they couldn’t prove inconclusively if he’d cheated? Well this bastard has admitted cheating, the book should be thrown at him.

Dunny should’ve smacked him instead of hugging him.

I couldn’t believe he had the brass fuckin neck to sit and console Dunne...

anyway, this is my last word on the matter, as I need to calm down.

The hand that patted Richard Dunne on his back to offer consolation & an understanding of the misery of defeat & failure experienced by a fellow sportsman also just happened to be the same hand that had so cynically brought about defeat for the Irish captain & his country.

Way to go, Thierry. I hope you’re prepared to see out the rest of your days in the public eye being remembered not for the wonderful player you were but for the cheat you are. And the next time you look in the shaving mirror I hope you are comfortable enough to look yourself hard in the eye. Mind you, it helps that you’ve banked millions from a lucrative Gillette deal so the shaving mirror is no doubt a happy haven for you.

In a fairer world the second leg would be played again and if necessary either behind closed doors or at a neutral venue. But fairness probably doesn’t enter the equation when one of football’s big-hitters have made their way (no matter how unfairly) to football’s global showcase.

Doubtless the real irony is yet to come: FIFA will wait for some of the heat to go out of this before deciding their only course of action will be to punish Robbie Keane for his post-match comments.

Fair play and all that…

I think Thierry might have slightly annoyed somebody.

Funniest thing I’ve seen in ages.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thierry_Henry&oldid=326715091

I fully understand Ciarán McGlone’s outrage, and especially agree with his comments about Platini. I await with interest the ’crusader for a return core values in football’s comments on this issue. I have a feeling that he will say nothing.

I hope I’m wrong, because I have a couple of French pals, now resident in N Spain, who will be mortified by what they will see as a shaming performance. They will continue to hold this opinion during the finals next year. And France will be there.

The only way that this fixture could ever have been replayed was if Ireland had won, and some technicality could have been found to disqualify them.

ps: the home team in a 2-leg knock-out tie gets extra time at home. Fair? And, of course, in this case, must just have been the luck of the draw - ho ho.

Anything that gets Ray Houghton annoyed as much as he did on talksport is ok with me - great radio.
I though this was ToffeeWeb anyway, not IrishWeb.
Who gives a shit about international footy anyway?

I’m starting to get a soft spot for the French. First the wonderful Zidane crowning his career with a quality nut on Marco and now a blatant hand ball to get to the World Cup Finals. Quality.

Gareth you are an amadan of the highest order pal.

Fans are getting very upset about this, while it was handball he isn't the first player to do it. I have a goal Ireland scored in the back of my head that was a handball too and at the time i remember everyone laughing about how he got away with it. It was offside last night it was hand ball but these things happen we dont boo the Yak off the pitch when he dives (and he does).

I feel sorry for the ref as he had a great game and it will be marred and i think he will loose out on going to the World Cup himself over all this moaning us Irish fans are doing.

Thanks for that Chris - I’m just interested in Everton, that's all.

Didn’t see the game but it seems to me the football authories are still living in the dark ages. Under the expert scrutiny of the media referees have shown themselves to be extremely fallible and at times totally gutless in calling offences in the box mostly by desperate or unskilled defenders. The clutching and grabbing is rife and getting worse because of referees not taking action.

In this case however it is the forward who has cheated and then 3 officials didn’t see what thousands did see. Shades of the cheating druggie Maradonna. Video technology must now be introduced as in Cricket and some US sports. There is too much to lose these days by everyone involved including the fans who in some cases will riot. Come on Fifa get into the 21st.century.

Thanks for all the comments folks even if I still don’t feel much better although Andrew Ellam’s wiki URL is a classic!

I know this is an Everton site (not an Irish one) but apart from having plenty of Irish supporters, I thought it was looking at the general issue plus there is a hint of the underdog versus the top team in this issue which we are all familiar with.

My summary at the end of this is:-
+ Most people feel that it is up to the ref to pick up any infringement (not the player)
+ Even if the ref had a good game generally, no matter how good he is, he may not (cannot) pick up every incident.
+ Some sort of external help (be it 4th official or Europa style assistants) should be officially allowed to assist the ref at all major games.

There IS a precedent for re-playing a game. Arsenal offered to replay an FA Cup game against Sheffield United some years ago when Arsenal scored a goal after what should have been a free throw in back to Sheffield was seized on and converted by the Gunners.

So, I don’t see why, practicalities aside, France should not OFFER to replay the match. Now that would be an act of sportsmanship. I don’t hold my breath.

If I were Henri, I’d feel that with one cheating action, I’d sullied my life’s reputation. Going to the World Cup would not be consolation enough.

And, the ref had a good game in my opinion, which only serves to show that the modern game is sometimes "un-refereeable" without outside assistance.

Why not introduce a system where each side is given two opportunities per game to contest a decision? That would have allowed a playback which would have resolved the incident last night.

Ray - Henry has already presented his defence for being a cheating bastard - as the referee’s fault. He will, as the piano player Liberace said all those years ago, laugh all the way to the bank.

Somewhere up there, a poster suggested that as this particular mercenary makes money from selling shaving products. It impacts on the game we love. Boycott it if you can.

When The Sun lost their Liverpool purchasers they changed their tune. It can be done.

All you lads who are up in arms, and saying the game should be replayed, would you all be saying the same if we were playing the redshite in a semi or a cup final, and an Everton player handled the ball in the same way? Also, while I agree you were cheated, the Henry incident was nothing new, it goes on week after week in football.

And that’s why Brian, I am falling out of love with the beautiful game. It’s only my undying commitment to Everton that keeps me attached to the sport.

I must say that quite a few older supporters that I know have swapped their allegiance to Rugby League in later life. I can’t see myself ever doing that but RL is way ahead of football in terms of use of technology, grass roots love of the game and good old fashioned sportsmanship.

That Wikipedia page just goes to show you don’t have to be particularly clever or witty to be proper funny.

I think its hilarious that the Irish are so outraged, even demanding a replay, as if they’re the only team that have ever suffered at the hands of a bad decision. As an England fan I’d love to know how much sympathy they’ve extended our way over the years with the duff decisions we’ve had. It happened, it wasn’t seen, quite understandably when you think of the positioning of the officials, both blindsided in different ways, and Ireland are out. We’ve had to suck it up plenty of times, your turn.

As for Henry, I reckon almost all professional footballers would have done exactly what he did in setting up the goal, but very few would have eschewed celebrating qualification in order to spend his time talking to the Irish captain. I don’t know what he was saying, but his body language was apologetic, commiserating, and he looked like a guy ashamed of what he’d had to do to get his country to the World Cup Finals. I think the French reaction does them credit, but in the end they can sheepishly make their way to South Africa where they’ll be a threat. I might slip a tenner on them...

Brian - you’re quite right, we would have taken the result and put our morals to bed for the night. The football world accepts these things as ’evening themselves out’.

But the result in France is smeared. The seedings and the conduct of the match officials. Suspect.

These things don’t even themselves out.

Agree Keith, the way the went about the seedings was a joke, but I thought the ref had a decent game.

Apparently Henry has ditched his Gillette contract and instead gone to Nivea as the man behind their new handcream.

Say goodbye to your tenner Mike Allison. They won’t win diddly squat under that goon of a coach, they were a shambles.

What the double handball incident has done is that it has distracted everyone from the fact that we totally outplayed France for the majority of the game with a fantastic approach, and players were playing out of their skins. Couldn’t believe the tactics after some negative performances during the campaign. It shows what a positive approach can do against supposedly superior opponents.

A lesson to learnt for Saturday,hopefully. Then again, maybe not......

Angry & gutted. One day we will have A UNITED IRELAND team & beat them big time.

The Irish put up an incredibly valiant effort, only to have it taken from them. Henry had a blatant (I'd cap it for extreme emphasis if it wasn't for the rules of the site) hand ball by Henry missed by the ref.. He knocks it down with his hand directly to his foot, pooches it in front of the goal and it's headed in. Complete hand ball. The linesmen and the ref - what were they watching?!

The seeding, the hand ball.... it's daylight robbery. I'm a USA citizen and USA fan, but you can guess by my last name who I was pulling for in this one and I think it's a travesty.

FIFA is a joke. Why not just give the French a free pass to South Africa? Sickening.

Mike Allison you sound like the epitomy of an Engurland fan....Grow up mate.

To be honest, I think Mike Allison is spot on. Why the fuck should we, above any other team wronged in the history of football, be granted a replay? We in Ireland have laughed heartily at the English for moaning about Maradonas goal in ’86, Why should we expect any sympathy now that the boot is on the other foot, or hand, as the case may be?

Our national leader is making a fucking joke of the country by declaring that he intends to bring it up with Sarkozy at the E.U meeting this week...For fucks sake, The Country is in the middle of financial meltdown and this prick decides that he wants to talk about football.

Yes, of course I’m gutted that we’re not going to be at the World Cup Finals, it hurts bad, but thems the breaks...Would I happy to grant the French a replay if Keane had done the same thing at the other end...Would I fuck!

At least as Evertonians we can rest happy in the knowledge that Everton could not be eliminated from the Europa league due to such an injustice...or could they?...

Duff comes out and says " If it would have been up the other end, I would have chanced my arm " Hmmm.......?

For those who want to keep the situation as it is where cheating (diving, hand-ball, pulling shirts etc...) is left to the ref to spot while also keeping an eye on the ball, and off the ball incidents, and making sure that he’s in a good position I’d like to make a few observations.

Back in the days when players earnt a decent, but not obscene wage, I think the game was played in a spirit which was more down to fair play. Individual players would take things to extremes (Franny Lee etc), but the vast majority would not cheat in the way that virtually every professional appears to these days. Footy is now a multi-million pound business and the rewards for getting that extra goal or winning a dodgy penalty are worth the risk of being caught cheating. I think that a mic’d up 4th official with access to video footage is vital to maintain that the sport retains its’ integrity. Refereeing mistakes that millions of people watching at home on the tv can see MUST be corrected.

The argument that grass roots football must have the same facilities as the highest level is in my opinion a cop out. Amateur rugby teams do not have video refs and do you hear them demanding that they should get them? Local cricket leagues do not have the luxury of sending a close run out decision to the third umpire, are they up in arms? The most important issue, is that at any level the decisions made by officials must be the best possible and, at the moment, in football the highest level is still being officiated by a single referee, although there are multiple cameras at every game and there is an extra official also at the game, who’s only (visible) role is to hold up an electronic board displaying numbers to the crowd!!!!

Wednesday night’s decision was down to a common problem in football. The referee was unsighted and the linesman (assistant ref my arse!) decided, with the home crowd breathing down his neck, that he saw nothing wrong. Whether Henry deliberately handballed is irrelevant - the age of holding your hand up and admitting stuff like that is well and truly gone. He played on, expecting the whistle - which didn’t come. How many people would own up to that in a 5 a side match — never mind in the closing stages of a match to decide whether you would be going to the World Cup Finals? It wasn’t like Di Canio’s catching the ball against us — he was worried that Paul Gerrard had seriously injured himself — he wasn’t owning up to an unseen offence.

Everyone says that the game has got a lot faster, players are quicker and stronger than ever before and players also seek to fool the referee at every opportunity. Surely the poor old referee must be given help, especially when the means to provide that help is already available. All that FIFA needs to decide is, what type of decisions can be referred ’upstairs’. Myself, I would prefer, where the 4th official spots something has been missed by the others (example the Henry handball) and he lets the ref know "Disallow that goal, handball by Henry"), and where the referee decides himself that he wants a second opinion (example was that a dive or was there contact). If the video footage is not conclusive, there should be a time limit for the decision after which the ref has to make a judgement call. It’s about reducing the number of obvious miscarriage of justice’s.

I guess something like that can only be brought in at the start of a season, but it’s about the right decisions being made and reducing the number of howlers! Don’t forget the favouritsm shown to the sky 4 will also be evened out by this new trial by tv, players like Drogba, Gerrard, Van Persie and Evra will not be able to throw themselves to the floor in order to gain a free kick. Carragher, Vidic and Terry will not be able to continually man-handle defenders in the box without giving away penalties. The officials won’t be able to get away with the ‘I could have done with seeing it a few times’ excuse, the public will see what the 4th official sees and if incorrect decisions are still made... I think there’s only so much the fans will put up with and we all like conspiracies.

Steve, I’m getting a bit tired of everyone comparing this to Maradona’s hand of god goal in 86. It was only similar in the fact that the hand was used. Everyone conveniently forgets the fact that he had also scored what is probably the greatest goal in World Cup history in the same game and was in his prime. England were never going to win that game. And let's be fair, what about the goal that never was in the 66 final?

Henry is a cheat, France have stolen a place in the World Cup Finals. Ireland is in a recession as you say and if they had qualified, what a boon that would have been to everyone’s morale and the economy.

I’m glad that the politicians at home are kicking up a rumpus. The whole planet saw the injustice and as it's on the nation’s lips it's not improper for the people’s representatives to bring it up with their much embarrassed French counterparts.

"Everyone conveniently forgets the fact that he had also scored what is probably the greatest goal in World Cup history in the same game"

I’m a little bit tired of bitter anti-English people who seem happy to piss and moan at there own footballing injustice whilst conveniently forgetting that the "Hand of God" ’goal’ was scored before the ’greatest ever’. If the cheating twat hadn’t poked the ball over Shilton who knows how the game would have turned out? Oh, and prior to France v Ireland I would have said that ’Ireland were never going to win that game’...

However, inspite of Lawlor, I do have huge sympathy that "Le Hand of Frog" has robbed the Irish of their rightful place at the World Cup. This clear and most blatant case of cheating has finally persuaded me that video technology must be introduced, and to hell with Hackney Marshes!

Chris - as I recall, the Maradona game finished 2-1 with Lineker pulling one back for the visitors. OK, Mexico City isn’t Buenos Aires, but the crowd of 115,000 were hardly neutral. Do crows influence officials? I would say they do. England with its 4 Everton players were cheated.

The 66 final was 4-2, and if Hurst’s second goal didn’t cross the line it was hardly awarded because of his cheating. More likely the 10 million USSR citizens who died in ’Hitler’s War’ could possibly have affected the linesman’s judgment at that moment.

Ciarán McGlone might be interested in Owen Gibson’s Digger column in today’s Guardian. Alongside a pic of Platini, he notes that the UEFA match report said merely that Henry had squared the ball to Gallas. Apparently, FIFA’s website changed their account (which, strangely had left out any soupcon of cheating) after a barrage of complaints.

Chris, you need to calm down mate.

If as Duff had said, the chance had been at the other end, he would have probalby done the same, would you all be up in arms now, if that had happened, and Duff had put you through, would you all be calling him a cheat?

I could see it now, you would all be hailing him as a hero, and having street parties, I think you just need to get over it mate. Also, Duff could be called a cheat, for saying that he would have done it.

Brian, Keith, Ray...

Fair enough, maybe I do need to calm down but its a bitter pill to swallow. Ray, I am not anti-English mate, I’ve lived here for 6 years, supported Everton for 30 yrs and married a beautiful English girl only last month so there’s no bias there fella. Cheap shot that one.

As for Duff’s comments, if he had handled as Henry had and Ireland qualified, I would feel as most Frenchmen do now, empty and embarressed.

The game is going down the pan as cheating is becoming the norm. It's similar to what Spartan’s used to teach their children eons ago. Go ahead and steal, that's fine... but get got and you are in trouble.

Chris — for me this is much less to do with cheating (which happens) than hypocrisy.

I won’t see my French pals for a few months but I can guarantee that they are feeling exactly as you have said — embarrassed, even ashamed by this empty ’victory’. They are warm, open, honest people (yes, and French, but perhaps in a more Mediterranean way) — above all, they have a fierce sense of pride. They will hate this, and they will be asking why Platini isn’t first up shouting about this injustice.

This, of course, is where hypocrisy comes in. He stands for all that is good in football — as long as this chimes in with his own interests and personal preferences. I still await his comments on this ’affaire’ (which it is becoming - it will go away, but not for a while and will be recalled many times in football politics in future).

Henry’s advisors have obviously told him to try to save his bankability as the prospects for future lucrative product endorsements sail over the horizon. Ireland deserve a replay he now says — after FIFA have confirmed it will never happen. A whiff of hypocrisy to my nose.

I will never buy a Gillette product again, and am emailing them to say so. Pissing into the wind I know, but it makes me feel better.

Trying my damnedest to be objective... Ireland should have buried them... so getting to extra time was asking for trouble. The referee went missing for that incident... but otherwise had a good game. Had Ireland gotten through based on a Duff handball — would we be offering to replay?

At the end of the day, it seems to be the case that the big teams/ home teams get all the breaks... This would argue in favour of the Rugby solution....

I’m not optimistic though - the football authorities and many club owners seem to live in never-never land.... As long as we keep tuning in and handing over our hard-earned shekels, why should they change their ways ?

As for Platini.. remember he scored the dodgy penalty at Heysel...

Chris, You are of course right. That does come across as below the belt. If you are still reading this thread — Sorry.
In a pub over a drink that comment would have sounded like banter. On here I can see that it makes me sound precious and up my own arse.

Stupid controversial handballs.