Following Wednesday's now infamous Hand of Henry incident that saw France qualify for World Cup 2010 at the expense of Ireland, Irish newspaper Sunday World has sent journalist babe Geraldine Comiskey to Barcelona with a specially commissioned poster seeking Thierry Henry's apology for his actions. Here's a look at Geraldine outside the FC Barcelona (who Henry [. 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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2010 is on the horizon and it's safe to say that it's been a wonderful decade for football. We here at Footy Factor have taken the opportunity to celebrate the greatest teams, players, and matches of the past 10 years. Next up...

Upset of the Decade

Winner: Senegal 1 – France 0 (2002 World Cup, Group Stage).

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by FRANCO PANIZO

Thierry Henry's handball heard around the world helped secure France's passage to the 2010 World Cup, but the French may not be through to South Africa yet.

The Irish federation has appealed Wednesday's night 1-1 result (2-1 aggregate advantage for France), and is demanding that France replay the second leg of the playoff.

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by FRANCO PANIZO

Thierry Henry's handball heard around the world helped secure France's passage to the 2010 World Cup, but the French may not be through to South Africa yet.

The Irish federation has appealed Wednesday's night 1-1 result (2-1 aggregate advantage for France), and is demanding that France replay the second leg of the playoff.

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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...

Watch the Thierry Henry handball video from the France versus Ireland game here. In the analysis by Irish TV station RTE, the pundits dissect the controversial moment in the game and analyze whether it should have been offside or not and whether the video of the Thierry Henry handball shows if he cheated on purpose or not.

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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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Now that we know the teams that will be making it to South Africa for the World Cup finals, i think its time we all took the bold step of picking our favorites to win the tournament. I know many of you might say that the right time to do this will be after the group stage draw that will happen in about two weeks time on the 4th of December.

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Arsenal defender William Gallas insists he did not see France teammate Thierry Henry handle the ball ahead of him poking home France's equaliser against the Republic of Ireland.
Barcelona striker Henry clearly handled the ball before setting up his former Arsenal team-mate William Gallas to head Les Bleus into the finals in South Africa next summer. Click to continue reading...

by TRAVIS CLARK

After three years of World Cup qualifying, the 32-team tournament field is set for next summer. Attention now turns to the December 4 draw in Cape Town, when the 32 nation field will learn their fate.

It was a hectic day across several continents as the final six spots were sewn up.

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by TRAVIS CLARK

After three years of World Cup qualifying, the 32-team tournament field is set for next summer. Attention now turns to the December 4 draw in Cape Town, when the 32 nation field will learn their fate.

It was a hectic day across several continents as the final six spots were sewn up.

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French striker Thierry Henry committed a blatant handball against Ireland today in the World Cup Qualifier which led to a goal by William Gallas and sent France to the 2010 World Cup, leaving Ireland's dreams dashed and Irish football supporters feeling understandably bitter.

The blatant handball by Henry was disgraceful and a horrible way to send Ireland out of the World Cup qualifying.

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It took 20 seconds to shatter the France's march to the 1994 World Cup. In the 90' minute Emil Kostadinov lashed a ball past Bernard Lama to win the game for Bulgaria, 2-1 and shatter French hopes for qualifying for the 1994 World Cup. David Ginola could have run out the clock but his errant cross led to the Kostadinov disaster.

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Saturday's demoralizing one-nil home loss to France in the first leg of their World Cup play-off sees the Republic of Ireland facing an uphill task to reach next summer's showpiece. As French fans start booking their flights to South Africa, the Irish faithful are left praying for a miracle.

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Considered to be the strongest rugby nation on continental Europe, France is always competitive with the traditional powers of world rugby.  Now Les Bleus have new home and away kits for their run up to the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Launched last week by the Fédération Française de Rugby and Nike, the new kits are the [. Click to continue reading...

So President Nicolas Sarkozy went on Facebook to wish les Bleus good luck.

Pretty sure that will be all it takes to push them over the top.

GFC over at The Beantown Frog is cautiously optimistic about this leg of the match, predicting a 1-0 win.

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The long, two-year road to South Africa has finally come to a conclusion. So far, 23 teams, including host South Africa, have qualified for the World Cup (here's a list of 2010 world cup teams).

Four will be known after the Nov. 14 matches, while the remaining five will be known after Nov.

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The Republic of Ireland will take on France in the World Cup play-offs which commence next weekend in what will be an intriguing clash between the shrewd Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni and the much-maligned French national team coach Raymond Domenech.

Trapattoni's record speaks for itself with successful spells almost everywhere he coached yet his most notable job prior to taking over Ireland ended in miserable failure with the Azzurri.

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Ligue 1 teams had an amazing week in the Champions League (not so much in the Europa) that somewhat validated my prediction of French teams being real contenders this year. While Bordeaux won with class and Lyon once again upset Liverpool in the same manner they did 2 weeks ago, Marseille destroyed Zurich and are now in a position to make Real and Milan sweat. Click to continue reading...

France's do-or-die match against Ireland is just around the corner, with the first match taking place on November 14th in Ireland and the second taking place on the 18th at the Stade de France (boo...). I don't know about you guys, but I'll be praying extra hard that France don't screw up against a tough Irish team.

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Our leak was right! While naming his squad for the France's FIFA World Cup qualifying playoffs with Ireland earlier today, France coach Raymond Domenech unveiled the Les Bleus 2010 adidas home kit. The new France World Cup 2010 adidas home kit is expected to make its debut on November 18th when France host the Republic of [. Click to continue reading...

French national football team coach Raymond Domenech has named his squad for Les Bleus two-legged with the Republic of Ireland. There are few surprises in the squad apart from the omission of former France captain Patrick Vieira in favour of younger Ligue 1 talent like Loic Remy and Rod Fanni. France and Ireland meet in Dublin on [. Click to continue reading...

Of the European World Cup play-offs I would argue that the Republic of Ireland's fixture against France is the pick of the ties. The Irish have shown a great battling spirit in their qualification campaign so far, drawing twice with Italy and narrowly missing out on defeating the Italians particular highlights.

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Following recent leaks of the adidas Germany and Spain World Cup 2010 home jerseys, one of the shirt that France will supposedly wear in 2010 has appeared on the internet. As with all leaks, whether of not this kit is real is debatable. Also, its appearance at the FIFA World Cup in South Africa next year [. Click to continue reading...

Pep Guardiola cannot believe it either.

After a workmanlike 1-0 victory against Almería and a mediocre showing in their 0-0 draw at the Mestalla against Valencia CF on Saturday, FC Barcelona looked to reverse their form in the Champions League against a supposed weaker team in FK Rubin Kazan.

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The European World Cup play-offs were drawn today (October 19) and the Republic of Ireland have drawn 1998 winners France. The Irish will have to beat the French if they are to make it to South Africa and the game should be a cracking occassion.

Of course the French are the favourites with the World Cup 2010 betting odds.

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LES ÉQUIPES PROBABLES

FRANCE: Mandanda - Sagna, Gallas, Abidal, Evra - Govou, L. Diarra, Toulalan, Henry (cap.) - Anelka, Gignac
ILES FÉROÉ: Mikkelsen - Danielsen, Gregersen, Eliasen, Davidsen - A. Olsen, S. Olsen, Benjaminsen, Loekin - Jakobsen - Hansen

I was willing to bet my house yesterday that we'd be playing two DMs, and guess what?

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The ever troubled French national team will be facing the Faroe Islands @ Guingamp, the 2009 winner of the Coupe de France and "birthplace" of the current Chelsea partnership of Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda. The match should be a formality but even with a win against Austria at Stade de France on Wednesday , it will take a miracle to see France finish first of group 7 and qualify directly for the World Cup. Click to continue reading...

Thierry Henry is a footballer who is not used to failure but France's place at the World Cup in South Africa next summer is in no way guaranteed. Les Bleus trail group seven leaders Serbia by four points with just two games remaining and it is starting to look increasingly likely they will have to get through a play-off to secure their spot at the World Cup.

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So there, I did poorly on my predictions for the World Cup qualifiers with two 1 – 1 draws and the quasi certitude that France will finish second in group 7 behind Serbia and will battle with the likes of Portugal, Greece or Russia for a World Cup spot, not an easy task...

The pastel Gaucho enters the Ligue 1 Pampa. Click to continue reading...

Europeam heavyweights and 1998 World Cup champions France have a battle on their hands if they want to qualify for the tournament in South Africa next summer. They drew with Group Seven leaders Serbia on Wednesday night leaving them four points off the Serbians with just two games left. It now seems almost certain they will have to face a play-off tie to qualify for the tournament but Barcelona striker thierry Henry is confident his national side have what it takes to get them to South Africa in 2010.

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C'mon, Romania!!! Oh, and France, too.

If we can get a win today at Serbia, our fate is still in our own hands. Our guys can do that. Right?

According to Raymond when asked about the starting XI, « Tout est possible », but l'Equipe is expecting Domenech to go for continuity.

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The decision of the French national team officials to appoint Raymond Domenech as Jacques Santini's successor will prove to be one of the worst in history. The colourful coach has done wonders with one of the best European sides, transforming them into the team that struggles against Faroe Islands.

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France 1-1 Romania:
France managed a 1-1 draw in Paris, which means that their hopes of automatic qualification are looking dull. William Gallas and Bacary Sagna started for Les Bleus in defence, and did very well, with Gallas' header even setting up France's first goal.
Spain 5-0 Belgium:
Visitors Belgium were crushed by an in-form Spain, as Thomas Vermaelen in Belgium central defence did not impress. Click to continue reading...