Arse fan : Oh but it's the hand of god !!!

I guess since we lost and again unjustly, I'll put some FAQs

1. What is wrong with Howard Webb?

Howard Webb gave United the penalty against Spurs last year. Howard Webb didn't give the penalty and innumerable free kicks against Arsenal at Anfield.

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In the 2004/2005 season we saw a little kid showing some extravagant talent when he first played Barcelona B team. After just five games, he was promoted to the first team and since then that little kid has grown up to be, arguably, the biggest threat to any defense.

Lionel Andres Messi was born to a half Italian couple in Rosario, Argentina.

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By Ollie Irish

Diego Maradona, in his genius prime, prepares to dribble past Big Terry Butcher and then Little Kenny Sansom during Argentina's infamous 2-1 win over England at the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico, aka the 'Hand of God' match. Inspired by their brilliant captain, Argentina went on to win the tournament, beating Belgium 2-0 in their semi final (Maradona scored both goals) and West Germany 3-2 in the final.

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Have you ever wondered where the ball from the 1966 World Cup Final is kept? Or where Maradona's shirt from the notorious "Hand of God" game is tucked away?

Read more...

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If ever there was compelling evidence that the law is an ass it is this....
Article 77a of Fifa Disciplinary Code states that the disciplinary committee is responsible for "sanctioning serious infringements which have escaped the match officials' attention". Henry's handball clearly escaped the attention of Hansson and his assistants, yet it could not be described as "serious" - a term which is defined in Article 47 of the code and which incidentally covers handballs intended to prevent a goal, but not those involved in creating one.

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Continuing our build up to the World Cup 2010, each month we are bringing you a top ten list provided by the team over at World Cup Odds. This month the topic is World Cup villains, and we have selected five choices from the World Cup Odds voting to highlight.

Marco Materazzi

Not only was Materazzi one of Italy's heroes through his excellent defensive displays in the tournament, but he helped the Azzurri take home the world's most coveted prize as he was the attention of Zinedine Zidane's head.

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Club Tropicana, drinks are free...

The official PA caption for this photograph reads: "England's John Barnes and Gary Lineker top up their tans by the pool after training."

Hmmm. I think it's safe to say that JB's tan was fairly well topped-up already. And note the bandage on Lineker's left forearm, an iconic accessory that instantly brings memories flooding back of his poacher's hat-trick against Poland in the group stage, a match England had to win to progress.

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Before I became a sports blogger, I was a rock journalist. I saw over one hundred concerts from the 80s to the 90s and witnessed incredible performances from The Rolling Stones, U2, Nine Inch Nails, Midnight Oil, Adam Ant, Metallica and so many other bands. But the one gig that is most vivid for me is from the summer of 1986 when I went to a small club called Summer's On The Beach on the Fort Lauderdale strip to see rock gods The Group Of Death.

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Continuing our look at teams for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, this week we look at Group B Argentina Ranked 8 by FIFA Winners in 1978 and 1986 Manager: Diego 'Hand of God' Maradona Key Player: Lionel Messi World footballer of the year by some margin Footballbits Group prediction – winners Nigeria Ranked 22 FIFA Best World cup – 2nd round 1994 and [. Click to continue reading...

First it was the Sports Illustrated jinx. Then it was the Madden curse. Now it appears that the sports figures that star in the Gillette advertisements have been the most recent case of an athlete who was cursed due to a product that they appear on.

By now we all have heard about Tiger Wood's transgressions.

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We're doing a World Cup team history post for every team at the 2010 World Cup. This is Part II of our Argentina World Cup team history, covering 1986 to 2006. Part I (1930-1982) can be found here.

1986 World Cup in Mexico

It probably doesn't get much better than this.

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From the Hand of God to his pleading with the Almighty for a win against Peru, Argentine coach Diego Armando Maradona is making a believer out of me. His two month suspension for the now infamous profanity laden press conference wasn't enough to dampen the power of the Argentina's D10cito.

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All is not well with our favorite family with the fullest, thickest heads of hair.*

It looks as though Sergio "Kun" Aguero and Giannina Maradona are no longer dwelling together in their Madrid McMansion and media speculation reports they haven't been for quite awhile.

Confudido?

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N. Waleed sends us this clip with Maradona using his hand on three other occasions apart from the infamous hand of God goal against England in the 1986 World Cup.

1981 against River Plate, 1985 Napoli, 1990 WC against USSR.

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'That' Goal Against Brazil In WC '06

Today I felt like contributing to the hundreds of thousands of articles doing the rounds on the so-called 'Greatest Controversy' since Maradona's epic and infamous 'Hand of God'. I feel sorrowed as a Gooner and a worshipper of King Henry not because of the error in judgment made by the Supremo, but on the subsequent treatment dished out to him.

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Oh shut up.
Anyways, if you haven't seen it or heard about "Thierrygate", then you must've been born yesterday or you are French, and like Wenger, you "din't see eet". Well, Frenchies, can you translate "hand of god" for me?
I really didn't feel the need or urge to say anything about the whole France - Ireland fiasco, simply because it was everywhere and obvious. Click to continue reading...

He is one of the most beloved footballers in the world. We have seen him in magazines, highlight reels, video games, and even an awkward Gillette commercial alongside Roger Federer and Tiger Woods. But was Thierry Henry's actions a week ago worth labeling the man a cheater for the rest of his football career?

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Thierry Henry may have handled the ball to pick up an assist in France's 1-1 tie against Ireland, but that doesn't mean he can't also score goals all by himself, or all by his hand.

That's at least the point of this game.

Click the link and then click on "Joeur" to see how many hand goals you can score!

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Former Republican of Ireland international and current Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn has turned on France striker Thierry Henry, calling the Frenchman's infamous handball in last week's game versus Ireland the worst injustice in sport history.
Henry collected a France free-kick on his hand before assisting in a crucial world cup qualifier versus the Republic of Ireland last week. Click to continue reading...

Many are surprised by the play Thierry Henry got away with in the World Cup playoff between France and Ireland. If you are not aware of the incident, Henry clearly was guilty of an intentional handball in the box at a critical moment in the second half. France was down a goal at the time of the non-call and the play resulted in a goal for Gallas and an assist from Henry.

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"Hand of God", by Balakov on FlickrThere's been lots of ink & pixels spilled about Thierry Henry's handball. Let me add to the clamor a little bit. I mean, why have a blog, if you can't spout off whenever you feel like it?
This Twohundredpercent piece, Trying To Dissect The Thierry Henry Handball, sums up the rational, measured response. Click to continue reading...

Even the most die-hard Roy Keane supporter will surely have been left dismayed following the Ipswich Town manager's rant over France's midweek winner in that World Club qualifying second-leg play-off. The infamous "hand of Henry" goal led to Ireland's elimination and not surprisingly comparisons have been made with Maradona's 1986 "hand of god" goal. Click to continue reading...

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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To echo our host's views on this, what took place between France and Ireland on Wednesday night really was a travesty. And lo and behold, here to rub salt in still-fresh wounds is soccer's top authority, FIFA.
For those who don't know, FIFA is about as honest, fair-minded and interested in bettering the world as your average African dictator -- and even that's probably an insult to African dictators. Click to continue reading...

The ball rebounded to Thierry Henry's hand, first once and then again. He scooped it gently, and let it fall to his feet. He made a controlled pass to his teammate William Gallas, who scored a much-needed goal against Ireland. The referee didn't call the handballs (clearly visible in recordings of the match). Click to continue reading...

This past week(s) we've have a couple united boys playing for their countries, attempting to qualify for South Africa. While its not directly "United Related", there's no way I cannot bring up the most blatant handball since Maradonna's "Hand of God".

So a quick roundup of the scores and the United personnel playing before I get to more on to what is going to be the single most discussed play in recent times:

France 1 1 Ireland (2-1 Aggregate)
France : Patrice Evra
Ireland : John O'Shea, Darren Gibson

Portugal 1 B&H (2-0 Aggregate)
Portugal : Nani

Okay, so the handball (seen/touch/heard) 'round the world.

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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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Image via Wikipedia With Ireland reeling from "Le Hand of God" bookie Paddy Power have issued a whole host of special bets on the man who will forever be known as "cheating Thierry." Unfortunately for Irish fans and Justice Minister Dermot Ahern, the likelihood of justice prevailing look slim with odds of 33/1 the match gets [. Click to continue reading...

It has been all about Thierry Henry and his "Hand of God" this past 24 hours. Articles, comments, they are everywhere, lambasting the striker for his role in the controversial equaliser. I am a Gooner, and Henry scored the goal which mesmerized me into pledging my allegiance to Arsenal.

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France captain Thierry Henry admitted he had handled the ball in the build-up to a controversial goal that sent France to the World Cup at the expense of Ireland on Wednesday.

Talk about Maradona's Hand of God, for the Boys from Ireland, this tragedy at the Stade de France will now be known as Henry's Le Hand of God.

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If football were fair in any way, Ireland would be heading to the World Cup in South Africa. Instead, after a largely weak performance, France snuck through thanks to a handball by Thierry Henry converted into a header by Gallas. Irish fans, who packed in large numbers in the Stade de France, are surely reeling in shock and rage.

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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.

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So what did I spend today doing? Bringing the rest of you up to snuff. First I had to correct Wilt on when Columbus Crew Stadium was built and how much it cost in his "Top 20 MLS Stadia" post (it was completed in 1999 at a reported cost of around $27 million [Ed. Although Wikipedia says $28.5 mil]). Click to continue reading...

(Just in case the thousands of others weren't doing it for you).
Thierry Henry's despicable handball in today's deciding World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland was probably the biggest soccer fraud since Diego Maradona's infamous "hand of God" act in 1986. The stakes, then as now, are massive: a quarterfinals berth at the World Cup then, a spot in next year's South Africa tourney now. Click to continue reading...

Morning all, welcome to another blog.
FP should start with a shout out to The West's Shayne Hope. For those who haven't caught the news this morning, Ireland were robbed of a spot in the World Cup after Thierry Henry used a blatant handball to help bail out France.
Checking out SH's twitter this morning gave FP a bit of a laugh: "Maradona's was the Hand of God - so Thierry Henry's must be the Hand of Frog, right? Click to continue reading...

A Bad screen grab tells it all An image the Irish will never forget and an image the Referee never had a chance to see. As the Swedish ref is right about now showering down , he will have no doubt have been told or even see the "hand of God" issued by Mr [...] Click to continue reading...

There was a time when the names Diego Armando Maradona, Carlos Bilardo and the Argentine National team were synonymous with success. The magical run to the 1986 World Cup made both men house hold names in the sport, and heroes back home.

Boy, does that seem like a life time ago.

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The World Cup Final, 1966: England's Geoff Hurst strikes the ball off the underside of the bar. As fast as a bullet, it lands over the line if you are English, and on the line if you are German. The referee looks to the linesman. The linesman looks to the Queen of England sitting in the stands.

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A suggestion for World Cup success Dear Mr Capello, An idea. OK, so it may be a tad premature but if we're going to finally win another World Cup, we need some cutting edge ideas. The Argentinians had a Hand of God in 1986, the Germans perfected the noble art of diving in 1990, the Brazilians learned [. Click to continue reading...

Making Maradona look like a saint This action comes from the Brazilian second division match between Ceara and Parana. Parana's Wellington Silva is desperate to get on the end of a speedy cross, so he stuck out his arm and knocked the ball into the net. To the surprise of everyone in the stadium except referee Charles [. Click to continue reading...