The thing that we all knew happened: Henry is a fraud. However, in the tradition of French smooth frauds he is someone who made it into an art; in his country the books about thieves are popular.

But the ‘hand' is not the only thing that makes Henry what he is; it is simply incredible how people in England or football fans in general forget all the things this man did.

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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...

And Dimitar Berbatov becomes Bulgaria's all time highest scorer.

"VIDEO: Berbatov's Goals Against Malta" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia. Click to continue reading...

Thierry Henry. A contentious and topical subject if ever there was one.
Whilst the footballing world today recoils in disgust at the actions of the France captain, there are plenty of misguided Arsenal fans who will be lightning quick to shout you down if you dare as to utter a derogatory comment. Click to continue reading...

One thing about not blogging for a week is you can sit back and watch the hysterical reactions going on in the world of football without feeling like you have to dive in and add your voice. It has been one of those weeks.

First we had the curse of the international break rear its ugly head again, in the form of injuries to Van Persie and Gibbs.

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Offside and handball, but the goal stands If I was Irish I would be waking up this morning a very bitter man. The Republic of Ireland had a place at next year's World Cup snatched away from them by this horrendous piece of refereeing. Despite the fact that two players were offside, at least one very [. Click to continue reading...

The injury to young Arsenal left-back Kieran Gibbs is not as bad as initially feared the club has confirmed.
The England U21 international was thought to have broken a bone in his foot whilst on international duty on Tuesday but further assessment has revealed that he only sustained bruising and will most likely miss just this weekend's clash with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. Click to continue reading...

You've got to feel sorry for the Republic of Ireland after last nights match where they were cruelly knocked out of the World Cup 2010 qualifiers thanks to a Thierry Henry handball.

Ireland went into the 2nd leg of the game 1-0 behind from a Nicolas Anelka goal in the first leg played at home last week, and went level in tonights game through Robbie Keane.

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Once an Arsenal player, always an Arsenal player...

"Wonder What Platini Makes Of This Cheat?" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia. Click to continue reading...

When football pitches explode Australia's Asian Cup qualifier against Oman was pretty bad-tempered throughout, so when a firecracker went off just metres away from players from both sides it didn't really help to cool the situation. Spotted on World Cup Blog

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Arsenal star hopes to save himself from glue factory with unusual treatment Robin Van Persie has revealed he will have horse placenta applied to his ankle injury in a bid to speed-up his recovery. The Arsenal striker damaged ankle ligaments while representing Holland at the weekend. Van Persie said: "I am going to receive treatment from a [. Click to continue reading...

Finally there is an official statement from the club on the extend of RVP's injury and it's 6 weeks. That's a total of 11 matches that the Dutchman will miss. 8 Premier League games, 2 Champions League games and 1 Carling Cup game (which I doubt he will feature in anyway). That spate of matches includes Sunderland (A), Std Liege (H), Chelsea (H), Man City (A), Stoke (H), Olympiakos (A), Liverpool (A), Burnley (A), Hull (H), Villa (H) and Portsmouth (A).

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Apologies about the lack of posting recently. I've slipped into an euphoria-induced coma at the sight of Tom Huddlestone and Peter Crouch both coming on for England in Doha on Saturday. The prognosis? I'll be okay in the long run but Jermaine Jenas definitely won't go to the World Cup.
I promise normal service will be resumed shortly, once the deluge of Uni work is eased a little bit. Click to continue reading...

Although this is the final stage of the World Cup 2010 qualifiers and there are no weak teams in the competition, Portugal and Russia were expected to have much easier jobs. They have minimal advantage before the return leg on Wednesday, but while Russia have a reason feel aggrieved, Portugal were more than lucky against Bosnia.

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Meet Darrinho Darren Bent ensures his return to international football was a success by switching his allegiance from England to Brazil. He may well bite his nails: OTP reckons the good people of Umbro won't be overly impressed by his choice of clothing.

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Another fan forgets that these goals don't count Previous pitch invader goals have included a sweetly struck penalty and a nice team move. This looked more like a Gaelic football goal than anything. Also, if OTP was partaking in such tomfoolery we don't think our venue of choice would be in Morocco. Click to continue reading...

Van Persie was stretchered off against Italy.

Going into the international break this weekend, I had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. It's the feeling that many football fans have before every international week; the feeling of impending disaster as we wait to see who the victims of these meaningless matches are.

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Just a few short weeks ago, Chelsea appeared the strongest team at least squad-wise in the English top flight. How quickly things can change.

Following this weekend's international break, the list of those on the treatment table has grown exponentially and not simply from lining up for their respective countries.

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Ben Foster was again chosen to play for England this weekend but is disappointed not to get any outings for his club of late.

"It's a weird one," said Foster. "I am third choice for United yet I am playing for my country. It is very disheartening to not even be on the bench at United.

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Wayne Rooney was England captain during their 1-0 defeat to Brazil yesterday, something he never thought would happen.

With captain and vice-captain, John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, both out injured, Fabio Capello trusted Rooney with the responsibility.

"I remember the best players in the world Pele, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Platini were captains, no?

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>> Click Here To Watch Wales Vs Scotland Live Now <<

Wales v Scotland Live Streaming & Match Preview
International Wales vs Scotland Live Online Click Here
Saturday, 14th November 2009
Kick Off : 15:00 GMT
Venue : Millenium Stadium, Wales

Wales will try to put far disappointment from the qualification for next year's world cup finals in South Africa when they make warm welcome with nearby country Scotland for a friendly play at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff this Saturday.

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>> Click Here To Watch Brazil Vs England Live Now <<

Brazil v England Live Streaming & Match Preview
International Brazil vs England Live Online Click Here
Saturday, 14th November 2009
Kick Off : 17:00 GMT
Venue : Khalifa Statium, Qatar

England and Brazil face each other at the Khalifa Stadium in Qatar on Saturday at 5pm in what should be a highly entertaining match between two heavyweights of International football.

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Watch Spain Vs Argentina Live Now

Spain v Argentina Live Streaming & Match Preview
International Friendly Spain vs Argentina Live Online
Saturday, 13th November 2009
Kick Off : 21:00 GMT
Venue : Madrid, Spain

Argentina make the long trip to Madrid to face Spain in this International friendly match, with Argetine legend Diego Maradona returning to the country where he played for Barcelona in part of his incredible career.

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Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has flown back to England after sustaining a thigh injury on international duty in Qatar. Lampard was preparing for England's friendly against Brazil this weekend.

Sexy.

An FA spokesman: "We can confirm that Frank Lampard picked up an injury to his left thigh whilst training today and will be returning home this evening.

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Crunch match gets crunchier Algeria's World Cup qualifier against Egypt on Saturday will have extra bite (as if it needed it) after their team bus was attacked by Egyptian fans. The coach had not even left the airport when rocks were thrown threw the windows, injuring three players. Rafik Saifi, who was hit on his hand, and [. Click to continue reading...

Nicolas Sarkozy gets the best view in the house at Croke Park See the entire spoof correspondence here.

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The play-off draw was by no means easy on Republic of Ireland and they have only FIFA officials to thank to for pitting them against underperforming but still very strong France side. This is obviously going to be most interesting duel in the World Cup play-offs and while we have no doubts both sets of players will be extremely motivated, it is the coaches that have the power to win this game for their team.

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Patrice Evra has confessed that he is on the receiving end of some piss taking after he rinsed his English United team-mates for failing to qualify for Euro 2008.

With Darren Fletcher's Scotland missing out on the World Cup, Evra has revealed how Fletch tells him they will be spending the summer together, after France fail to beat Ireland in the qualifier.

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Man Utd full-back quits drinking Sprite to avoid its green label Patrice Evra has revealed he is sick of the colour green as he prepares for France's World Cup play-off clashes with the Republic of Ireland. The left back suspects his team-mates have adapted their wardrobes to keep him under pressures. Click to continue reading...

Moody striker would like spot-kick responsibilty When Inter Milan's Mario Balotelli won a penalty five minutes into their match against Palermo last night, he obviously felt that was justification for him taking it. Samuel Eto'o disagreed, pulled rank and placed the ball on the spot. Balotelli continued to stand next to the ball demanding to take the [. Click to continue reading...

A song for South Africa (well, France at least) Sometime we lack skill / And sometimes we lack speed / Who needs Steven Ireland? / Bring back Andy Reid We have all heard of World Cup songs, but World Cup play-off songs might be a new one. Here's To Trapattoni has been written by the Corrigan Brothers [. Click to continue reading...

Next time you see strikers of your club ending the hard to miss situation with terrible shot wide, just remember that you could end with something like this

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Brown-nosing Jack Warner England's 2018 World Cup bid team is planning to give luxury handbags to the wives of all 24 members of Fifa's voting committee. And Fifa vice-president Jack Warner - the most vociferous supporter of bidding countries showing exactly how much they want the tournament via the medium of gifts for committee members - [. Click to continue reading...

In anticipation of World Cup 2010, from time to time Premiership Talk will review some of the interesting topics in international football. This week we'll start with the list of the ten best players who have never appeared in the World Cup, courtesy of World Cup Odds. You can vote for your choice at their website.

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