The French public overwhelmingly (81%) believe that the French team does not deserve to go to the World Cup. An even bigger percentage (88%) believe that Thierry Henry was wrong to use his hand to assist in William Gallas extrat time goal.

Just a moral victory but at least there is some honour left.

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Football's latest controversy not only lies solely in the hands of Thierry Henry (excuse the pun), but could well be crucial in the development of technology within the game. As Rob asked in his recent post on the incident, what's it going to take for the authorities to realise technology is required? Click to continue reading...

So, France made it to the World Cup at the expense of the Republic of Ireland. Expected? Maybe. Still, the way Les Blues made it through is far more than questionable.

For those of you who were hibernating during the past week and somehow don't know how France qualified, Thierry Henry handled the ball 13 minutes into extra time and passed it to William Gallas, who headed the controversial goal allowing France to reach next year's finals with a 2-1 win on aggregate.

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Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni has vented his fury at FIFA in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport.
'I would like to know what have I done to (Sepp) Blatter,' Trapattoni said. 'If he explains it to me at least I would be calm.
'I often go to schools and speak of fair play. Click to continue reading...

Thierry Henry now says that a replay would be the fair thing, but FIFA won't have any of it. Roy Keane thinks FAI should drop the cause and move on, and France's coach Raymond Domenech seems just happy to have qualified.
The KC Star got in on the act today, as Matt Schofield chimes in on the story, laying out the details for those who haven't yet heard of them and offering a modern-day morality lesson. Click to continue reading...

Latest development in the already long running Thierry Henry handball incident (or "la main de dieu" as it's being called by some) is that Henry himself thinks a replay is a good idea:

"The fairest solution would be to replay the game but it is not in my control," said the Barcelona striker.

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Right then, whilst I'm here I might as well sort this shit out.

First things first, I WANT the game to be replayed. Having said that it would be an absolute travesty if FIFA ordered a rematch of the game, as it would set an extremely dangerous precedent in football whereby the result on the pitch isn't final.

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Oh man, I twisted the holy hell out of my ankle last night. Came down from a jump halfway on someone else's foot in the last minute of the game. Suddenly, my four flights of stairs up aren't so charming...#1 - Landon Donovan is your MLS MVP. He also won Goal of the Year. Somehow, he was beaten out for Save of the Year by Pat Onstad. Click to continue reading...

Here is a look at the new France shirt for the 2010 World Cup. Les Bleus ( the likes of Anelka, Henry, Gourcuff and co.) will wear this jersey at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. France finished runners up at the 2006 World Cup, and qualified for the 2010 event in somewhat [...] Related posts:

1. Republic of Ireland vs France highlights goals- World Cup 2010 playoff This is the post for the first leg.

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Should Georgia get a replay? Roy Keane reckons the Republic of Ireland could not have expected their game against France to be replayed on the grounds of Thierry Henry's handball. The Ipswich manager launched a scathing attack against the Football Association of Ireland for their protests following the match, and accused them of hypocrisy on the [. Click to continue reading...

Winger offends his own boot suppliers as he clutches at straws Damien Duff has claimed that the Republic of Ireland's controversial World Cup qualification play-off defeat to France was the result of a conspiracy between FIFA and Adidas. The Fulham man, who picks up £100,000 a year for wearing Adidas boots (for now at least), reckons [. Click to continue reading...

Thank God, it's over! This was truly the interlull from hell. Not only was our best current player injured for almost two months, but our best former player has been branded "a cheat" and "a liar." I have refrained from covering and incessantly commenting on this whole affair because I am just absolutely sick to death of the British media.

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Sports pundits and fans are going full tilt at Thierry Henry calling him a "cheat", "morally reprehensible", "unsportsmanlike", "a snake oil salesman".

Richard Williams crosses that line when as a Brit he forgives Maradona's hand of God goal saying it amounts to breeding.

"To rank the incident in Paris alongside Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" in 1986 is misleading.

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It´s official FIFA has rejected the call to replay the France vs Ireland World Cup 2010 qualifying match which was won by France afterThierry Henry handballed twice in the last moments to allowteam-mate Gallas to score the qualifying goal.As expected the "blacklash" has been Worldwide with responses fromall around the global. Click to continue reading...

Image via Wikipedia A board meeting this afternoon called by Ireland's FAI has been called to discuss request for replace of the Playoff with France. However it has been announced recently that FIFA have rejected their earlier request. In a response to a request made by the FAI yesterday, the world governing body have ruled that [. Click to continue reading...

Controversy surrounded France's qualification for the World Cup against Ireland. So much that French president Nicolas Sarkozy apologized while the Irish have demanded that the match should be replayed (this was rejected by FIFA).The problem is France's equalizer in extra time (that brought France ahead 2-1 on aggregate, and gave them the spot in South Africa) where Thierry Henry is clearly seen Click to continue reading...

It is Friday, which means it is time to prepare for non-stop action from Spain with La Liga back in the fray. After an intense week of World Cup qualifying playoffs, the focus turns back to the domestic responsibilities.

The times listed are Eastern Standard Time (EST) and include the pregame pleasantries, although sometimes the matches on the DIRECTV La Liga specific channels may not go to match coverage until right before kickoff.

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Its not just the Egyptian and Algerian governments having a holy go at each other.

The replay request is now being echoed in the upper echelons of the Irish government as Brian Cowen, the Irish PM is now suggesting that he will approach the French premier Nickolas Sarkozy to discuss a replay and circumvent FIFA's objections.

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Stowe sent me this "100 Greatest Quotes from The Wire" video on Twitter the other day, and I watched it, and I was like, "Oh my God, The Wire," because I haven't seen it in a few years and this sort of brought it all back. Then, for no obvious reason, this video started tugging at my brain after the Thierry Henry handball rocked the core of everything that had a core to rock yesterday.

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Official Press Release The Football Association of Ireland today (November 19) confirmed that it will lodge a complaint with FIFA, following last night's World Cup play-off match between France and the Republic of Ireland in Paris. Conclusive video evidence of a deliberate hand ball by Thierry Henry, which led to France's additional time goal, has been seen [. Click to continue reading...

Thierry Henry last night said "..what can I do.." in reference to the handball incident that led to Gallas goal against Ireland. Trappaoni today commented -Â "It wasn't up to Henry to say, 'I touched it with my hand'" . With that in mind we remember about FIFA and their fair play rules Where [...] Click to continue reading...

The Germans become comic book heroes before our very eyes. Looking back at Russian disappointment. (Russian Football Now) Hands were flying in Brazil yesterday too. (See The Cup) The US World Cup uniform leaks. (Football Fashion) The pitch invader from Sweden-Denmark gets a huge fine. (BBC) Take the stadium aerial challenge and waste loads of time at work. Click to continue reading...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC-pF3OHY1c

Following the controversial decision to allow France's goal to stand as Thierry Henry clearly handled the ball prior to assisting William Gallas, it is only normal to have increased complaints and ever growing displeasure at the level of refereeing.

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The Irish FA is calling for a replay. Will it happen? Who knows, but there is no doubt that it was a hand ball. Thierry Henry even admits it:

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France controversially qualified for FIFA World Cup 2010 last night at the Stade de France via a 1-1 tie with a spirited Republic of Ireland side. The result gave France an aggregate victory of 2-1 in the home and away playoff series. Robbie Keane had tied the series with a goal in the 33rd minutes. Neither [. Click to continue reading...

The furor over last night's game will not settle down anytime soon. Not tomorrow, not next week, not even before the traveling circus takes to South Africa next summer. Not unless something is done to eradicate the impact of The Hand of Henry on the outcome of the game.

The Irish FA, of course you'd hear from them, have come up with a simple solution: replay the game.

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Big Story

He did it, we all know he did it, some think it was normal, some think it was the devil's work, and Ireland want a replay even though FIFA have already ruled it out.

This brings us, of course, to the tricky question of justice in football.

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Thierry Henry the Basketball Player Thierry Henry the Yo Yo Expert Click to continue reading...

Long, long ago, when the world was still new, there was once an Arsenal blog, written by an American. It was updated daily with all the latest news, transfer stories, and thoughts on Arsenal. It was called The ArseNole. And now, The ArseNole is back. That's right, after a shocking absence of over a month, I've made a return to the blogging realm, since there is finally a lot to talk about. Click to continue reading...

Everybody is talking about it, so I thought I'd join in. It has been dubbed the Hand of god II. As if the plot of this sequel is similar to the first one.

Before we can go into further debate, I'm not denying that it wasn't a handball. It will be very difficult to suggest otherwise. The actual handball happened in two parts, the first seemed accidental but the second most definitely wasn't.

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The FRANCE vs. IRELAND game has transcended all frontiers.This is the French goal from Gallas that eliminated a brave Irelandside from the 2010 World Cup:(LOWER THE VOLUMEN!, incident replay 1.15min)Two points:1. There was off-side2. Thierry Henry handled the ball twice.According to the player:"Yes it was handball, evidently I would have wishedit to be differently, but I am not the referee"It is Click to continue reading...

For a 120 minutes the Irish National Team played their hearts out and with one hand Henry took their dreams of a World Cup away. Here is how the Irish newspapers covered the events yesterday in Paris.
Irish Times
Irish Independent
Irish Examiner
Irish Daily Star
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The games didn't really have everything, did they? The results did some upsets, some heroics, a few of the expected teams going in but outside of the one game which forced a playoff (Egypt 2 Algeria 0), some of these games were completely zapped of the necessary drama.

(Not, of course, that one played in the Stade de France.

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Thierry Henry's left forearm makes first contact with the ball but then as the ball bounces off ever so slightly his hand comes up and he steers the ball onto his foot. The first touch was inadvertent but his second touch had clear intent. What is so amazing about this is that the linesman on the opposite side should have seen happened because as far as one can see his vision remains unobstructed with Henry furthest out clear of the Irish defenders and Shay Given.

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Thanks Alexia for the photo!

So he's not exactly the world's favourite man right now, but Titipo Henry has officially joined The Dona's recreational volleyball club after his handball against Ireland. Ok, instead of calling him a hypocrite like everyone, let's sit down and have a drink.

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