...Or at least if you had just read the reactions from the fans and trigger-happy journalists, you'd think this is what Henry had actually done:

On a serious note, the 'victims' the Irish team have been refreshingly objective about the situation and have laid the blame squarely on the horrible refereeing and to a much lesser extent on their own poor finishing as the real reasons why the French and not the Irish are headed to South Africa.

19-year-old Norwegian starlet Jo Inge Berget is contracted to Udinese Calcio, but would rather be anywhere else than in Udine.

After a loan spell at his home club in Norway, the striker was expected by Norwegian media to get a call-up to the senior national team in November, alongside players such as Aston Villas John Carew and Le Mans Club's Thorstein Helstad.

Don't miss Adrian Clarke and Iain Spragg debate the beautiful game on Episode 28 of the world famous Soccerlens podcast.�

This week's sprightly show features lively chat on possible Premier League expansion, the next destination for Man City rebel Robinho and a cheeky new way of ridding football of its diving cheats.

It seems that whenever I write an article for this site it's about one of two things; Scottish football's decline or uprising. No prizes for guessing which one this falls under, with the issues surrounding that of Rangers dominating the back pages north of the border for most of the past few weeks.

Check out Episode 26 of the world famous Soccerlens Podcast with co-hosts Adrian Clarke and Iain Spragg.

Football's swine flu epidemic (including the dangers of spitting), the latest twist in Newcastle United's tale and an escalating problem with hooliganism all crop up in conversation during this week's spookily good show – as do all the usual match previews and predictions, focusing on Arsenal v Tottenham, Everton v Aston Villa as well as Lyon v Liverpool.

England manager Fabio Capello breezed into the school of excellence at Coverciano on Monday with the air of authority that comes from having won everything there is in the club game. He was there to give an inspirational speech to the school's students who want to follow in his footsteps.

Instead, Capello launched an unexpected and scathing attack on the state of Italian football, telling the assembled audience that the game on the peninsula is now being held hostage by the Ultrás.

Last night the Guardian published a damning article quoting Portsmouth's new owner, Ali Al Faraj, as saying that he had bought the club on borrowed money, that he wasn't a billionaire, that he knew nothing about football and that he planned to sell on the club in six months after he had stabilised it.

Remember that fabulous Parma team that lifted the UEFA Cup in 1999?

Led then by manager Alberto Malesani the team was made up of superb talent from the back to the front. A young Gainluigi Buffon kept goal, protected by a back three of Lillian Thuram, Fabio Cannavaro and Nestor Sensini.

Rio Ferdinand is perhaps one of the more unlikely of digital ambassadors. Before yesterday's online-only broadcast of Ukraine v England, the defender offered his opinion on the unique way the game would be broadcast to the nation.

"I'm sure it'll be the way forward and in the future it'll probably be the reality.

Update: Ali Al Faraj has completed his takeover of Portsmouth, acquiring a 90% stake in the club. Sulaiman Al Fahim retains a 10% share.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

After Sulaiman Al-Fahim pulled the wool over the Premier League's eyes once during the Manchester City takeover by pretending to be the owner and making pre-posterous claims on who Manchester City could sign, the actual owners quietly sidelined him and brought in a more measured representative.

Instructions, mentality: attacking, passing style: short, tempo: quick. Ohh hang on a second, I can do this for real now.

Last weekend I completed my Football Federation Australia junior coaching license, so am now a 'proper' football manager. Sure I'll be coaching under 12's, but thats not what counts, I can pretend to be educated about the game, shout at my young winger to take more shots, and go to official FFA conferences.

US soccer has progressed to the level where like the rest of the world, MLS clubs should considering paying modest youth transfer fees to local clubs that develop the young players they select for their U16 and U18 academy teams.

Reimbursement in the form of scholarships would encourage local clubs to develop complete players instead of focusing on wins and also to invest in low-income players, further improving the vision of youth player development in the US.

Back in June, as Major League Soccer was finding its stride on the other side of the Atlantic, Michel Platini and UEFA confirmed that this year's Europa League would be the testing ground for a new officiating structure.

By adding an 'additional assistant referee' behind each goal line, Platini hopes to do away with the cheating which occurs in the penalty area, from a playful tug on the shirt at a corner to the game's crime of the moment, diving.

Thanks to Eduardo, diving has once again risen to the summit of football's trendy topic list.

Whatever the rights or wrongs of the UEFA charge and its subsequent overturning on appeal, the majority view was Eduardo purposely exaggerated the challenge and the ensuing penalty was harsh on Celtic (even Arsene Wenger admitted as such).

We've all been there. It's the last minute and your team is clinging on to a vital, undeserved win away from home. You stand and bellow support for your lads with their backs against the walls, frantically throwing themselves in front of every ball headed toward the goal to break your heart.

The Premier League have introduced a home-grown player rule and a limit on squad sizes – both of which will come into effect from next season.

The 20 Premier League clubs have voted to introduce the measures which will see all teams limited to a squad of 25 of which eight players must be ‘home-grown'.

Today a four year legal battle that has dominated the national and international news has come to an end, Michael Shields has been pardoned by the British government following his conviction for attempted murder in a Bulgarian court. After serving time in both Bulgarian and British prisons Michael Shields will be freed in the coming days a thought that must have seemed a long way off following his conviction and 10 year sentence four years ago.

Unless one has been in a coma for the past two weeks, they would have noticed the controversy surrounding the (just about) Croatian Eduardo's attempt to "deceive the referee" in Arsenal's Champions League Qualifier against Celtic and his subsequent two match ban by UEFA.

After the entire British Isles bar the red side of North London cried "cheat" at Eduardo, UEFA handed out a two match ban to Eduardo and one would have thought that justice has been served and the world can move on to other football controversies like Gael Kakuta and APOEL FC's presence in the Champions League.

Fashion writers like to think that they have their fingers on the ever-changing pulse of the British nation, that they are armed with an intricate understanding and perception of what is hot, not, and what could well turn out to be in the future. And listening to most seasoned observers of said industry, it is fair to say that one trend tends to be permanently listed under the "In" banner.

No he hasn't. Of course he hasn't. My apologies for leading you to think that he had.

However, it does help me draw attention to this accurate depiction (comic below) of what 'football blogging' can be like when you get people chasing the almightly dollar / pound with scant regard for quality, principles or even long-term sustainability and success.

A recent conversation with a close friend has sparked an interesting thought to another side of the game that often undeservedly receives an abundance of abuse...refereeing.

My friend bless him is not your best sportsmen standing at just over 5 foot and possessing two left feet but his passion for the refereeing element of the game is expansive as he bores us all in the pub, reeling off ref stats one after the other.

Fans of Stirling Albion FC (a Scotland Second Division club) have had a substantial bid to buy the club rejected by the current owner.

The offer, from the Stirling Albion Supporters' Trust, which met the sale price (thought to be £300k) placed on the club by current owner Peter McKenzie, has been rejected.

Southampon FC has been sold to DMWSL613 Limited (owned by Swiss national Markus Liebherr) for an undisclosed sum (reportedly £12.5m). Markus Liebherr also owns and controls the Swiss-based Mali Group, which consists of five companies engaged in technologically advanced engineering.

Joint Administrator Mark Fry commented:

"The sale of the Saints to Markus Liebherr is a fantastic opportunity to rebuild the Club.

What is it with teams from Leeds overstretching themselves in pursuit of glory? First there was Leeds United, the club that was one of the biggest teams in England in the 70s and Champions League semi-finalists as recently as 2001. Their fall was as swift as it was painful and the team narrowly avoided going completely out of business before getting stuck in League One.

The Premier League has terminated its license agreement with Setanta Sports for 09-10 Premier League matches after Setanta failed to meet the Friday deadline for making payments due to the Premier League.

This means that the 46 live matches Setanta had for the 2009/2010 Premier League season are now back on the market on auction, with offers needed by Monday.

When American soccer players discover they have the athletic prowess to play overseas, they go, and we encourage their choice. But when American soccer fans choose to ignore MLS, its considered to be detrimental to the success of American soccer.

As has been stated before in the New York Times, the biggest hurdle MLS has right now is that better quality soccer is incredibly accessible to existing American soccer fans, making MLS even less desirable.

In a summer bereft of football, the release of fixture lists this week provide some form of respite for fans starved of action. Away trips are plotted, long weekends at some of the more far-flung fixtures are planned, and best mates are pleaded with not to hold their wedding on a certain date as it clashes with "the big one".

I know we are being flooded by Cristiano Ronaldo articles just about now, but this is actually meant to be a response to a brilliant article posted earlier in the week.

I am a Manchester United fan. I am devastated. No. Scratch that. I knew this was going to happen – we all did.

Sports have evolved over time. They've morphed from local clubs into global obsessions. Whether we like it or not, they've become businesses involving 20-something millionaires, multi-million dollar sponsorships, foreign investors, Middle-Eastern Consortiums and lucrative TV deals. The results of these games (among other things) now have increasingly high monetary consequences, which places more importance on the results than ever before.

I woke up this morning with a headache. Not for the first time, not for the last. My alarm seemed to ring about ten minutes after I had clambered into bed ready for a good night's sleep. I had a dull day of work ahead of me, with a fusion of people I can tolerate, and people I can't stand, doing a job that I could do standing on my head- though wouldn't recommend!

Never say the British public, and indeed the world, can't be persuaded to vote when the matter at hand is football. While the rest of England reluctantly headed to the polls to register their disapproval of the government, members of MyFootballClub.co.uk were being balloted not just once but three times for several key votes on the future of Ebbsfleet United.

A month has passed now from the famous (and for many infamous) Chelsea - Barca semifinal of the Champions League. There's been plenty of time to reflect on it, so I feel it's worth adding a few words about it.

In the meantime, Barcelona went on to become champions, beating Manchester United in the final pretty comprehensively.

One week after a much acclaimed Champions' League final in Rome, FIFA's Congress passed a new resolution removing age limits on a player's ability to change national teams. While the vote received little fanfare as more attention seems to be affixed on whether Kaka will play for AC Milan, Real Madrid or Chelsea, the potential repercussions on international football are enormous.

As Chelsea reigned triumphant at Wembley on Saturday, David Moyes cut a disconsolate figure, as you would expect the manager of a losing team in the FA Cup final. Yet the Scot's comments in the run up to the game said much about cup competitions in the modern era.

Toffees fans would have been delighted had Everton taken their first piece of silverware since 1995, but, according to Moyes, winning the FA Cup would be a "stepping stone" for the club.

How would the Premier League table look if refs got all the key decisions right? A quick glance at the Right Result league tables for the last 3 seasons will tell you how crucial refereeing decisions can be for certain clubs.

In the 06/07 season, refereeing mistakes allowed Tottenham to claim a European spot while pushing Aston Villa all the way down to 11th.