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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Thierry Henry's legacy will never be the same. Like when Brett Favre started his rope-a-dope with retirement.
Both will forever be honored greats, but each will have a little negativity added to their reputations.
There were all sorts of stories on the wire yesterday regarding Le Hand. Click to continue reading...

Morning all, good to see the Thierry Henry stuff has blown over. Erm ... I wouldn't normally bother but I think it's only fair that someone tries to counter the lies and the hysteria. He's not one of ours now but he was and he was one of our best. Plus it's kinda quiet.

The Mirror:

Liam Brady last night branded Thierry Henry "shameful" after launching a bitter attack on FIFA for fixing the outcome.

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Heartbreaking. That's all I can say about this match. Gut-wrenching, soul-wrenching, the very best kind of completely awful.

The pivot point of the match – and for the rest of time nothing else will be discussed – was Henry's unjustly-allowed goal. (Technically it was Gallas', but Henry had more than a hand in it.

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Reuters is reporting today that French captain Thierry Henry has admitted that he 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.

Ireland's Robbie Keane criticized FIFA and UEFA after the loss, saying the two governing bodies would prefer seeing France in the World Cup.

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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...

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...

Ahoy there.

A word of caution. If you ever decide to visit Cairo in the near future, particularly if it involves a back-crippling, desert traversing, eight hour coach trip from the south coast in the small hours of the morning, perhaps don't choose the day when Egypt are hosting Algeria in a World Cup qualifying decider and the City is on relative lockdown; traffic has stalled, shops are abandoned and from every stationary, horn-honking mini-bus there's a national flag being hoisted from the sun-roof.

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I'm iller today than I was yesterday and can hardly see straight to watch TV let alone put something out there in a blog but after the reaction to Henry's hand I felt I had to blog. On Twitter last night as I signed of for the evening I advised everyone to keep a look out for how this would all be Arsenal's fault.

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Thierry Henry is the villain of the soccer world today. He will be for a while.
In one of the shadiest moves on the big stage in recent memory, the French legend (after being offside) intentionally handled the ball in setting up the game-winning goal to send his country to the World Cup, and unfairly end Ireland's dreams. Click to continue reading...

A Parigi, ieri sera, un clamoroso "errore" arbitrale spezza definitivamente il sogno del Trap di portare l'Eire ai Mondiali e regala, invece, il pass per il Sudafrica ai galletti di Domenech. Ma la qualficazione della Francia ai Mondiali del prossimo anno è immeritata e, soprattutto, viziata da un fallo di mano pazzesco di Henry che consente a Gallas di realizzare il prezioso pari (gli irlandesi erano passati in vantaggio con Robbie Keane). Click to continue reading...

Without getting into a great deal of opinion, or any at all for that matter there's surely plenty of that floating about it would probably be prudent to look into the words on each side of the divide from those who were there, at the game and directly impacted. (What with it being one of the most controversial games in World Cup Qualifying history and all.

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Image via Wikipedia The presence of Giovanni Trapattoni continued to grow even at the Stadio de France and things were turning to be dramatic during the first half as Ireland scored in about the 32nd minute to show that they were in the groove and it reflected the score line predicted by Trapattoni the earlier [. Click to continue reading...

Africa
Arguably the headline match of the day was the special play-off match between Algeria and Egypt to decide the final World Cup qualifier from Africa.
Both teams had finished with identical records in Group 3 of the final qualifying round which led to this hastily-arranged one-off match in Sudan to decide the winner. Click to continue reading...

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...

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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The Hand of the Frog
Thanks to the 50 + of you who participated in our World Cup Playoff Prediction Contest sponsored by Soccer Pro, and I'm pleased to announce our winners...
1st Place: Jon (wins a team jacket of his choice from Soccer Pro!)2nd Place: Daniel (wins an official World Cup replica ball! 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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UEFA and FIFA both got their wishes tonight. France and Portugal both will be in South Africa next summer. But the Republic of Ireland were left fuming as Thierry Henry's handball earned France a 1-1 draw and a trip to South Africa.

France had won the first leg 1-0 in Dublin on Saturday, but Ireland when Robbie Keane scored just after the half-hour mark at the Stade de France, the tie was level.

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París, 18 nov (PL) En una polémica jugada en tiempo extra el defensor William Gallas le dio a Francia hoy la clasificación para el Mundial de Suráfrica-2010, tras imponerse 2-1 a Irlanda en partido de la repesca europea.
En la factura del dudoso gol marcado por Gallas, intervino una mano "evidente" del capitán Thierry Henry que habilitó al defensa casi en la línea de meta para marcar el 1-1 definitivo a los 103 minutos del encuentro disputado en el Stade de France. Click to continue reading...

Thierry Henry clearly handled Florent Malouda's delivery and then picked out Gallas in front of goal, who drove home the equalizer in extra time. The referee Martin Hansson and his assistant did not see the infraction.

The goal nullified Robbie Keane's 32nd minute opener. And cruelly snuffed out Ireland's chances.

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(Summary is not available.) 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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The UEFA 2010 World Cup Qualifying Playoffs had their second legs on Wednesday, November 18, 2009. One of the match-ups was the Republic of Ireland v France that was 0-1 after the first leg. The Irish were the clear underdog with a 0-1 deficit after the first leg and having to travel to France for the second leg.

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Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez would rather win the Premier League trophy than another Champions League title.
Following a disappointing start to the season which has seen them lose five league games already, many are ruling Liverpool out of the title race this term.
Nevertheless, Benítez, who brought the Champions League trophy to Anfield in 2005, is desperate to claim the domestic crown. Click to continue reading...

On Saturday afternoon, just before 12.45, a big-spending manager will take his seat in the dugout at Anfield aware that his side is desperate for a victory to ease the mounting pressure. Defeat will bring an avalanche of criticism. Yes, Mark Hughes could be in for a torrid afternoon if his Manchester City side is beaten by Liverpool. Click to continue reading...

Rafa Benitez today revealed that he originally bought Robbie Keane to be the linkman between Gareth Barry and Fernando Torres.But when he failed to sign Barry, Robbie Keane was quickly sold "as collateral damage".That clears that one up then. I thought Keane was sold because Benitez didn't fancy him as a player. Click to continue reading...

I'll admit that hearing many a pundit say that a World Cup without France would lose some of its bite made my blood boil. Â I have nothing against French Football, and in fact cheered for them in each of their four knock out stage matches of Germany 2006.

But from my perspective an Irish defeat today in Paris would be a defeat for football.

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Rafael Benítez said last night that he would quit if Fernando Torres is sold against his will. Liverpool's £245m debt has led to questions about whether their US owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, would be tempted to sell, even if he was offered £100m for the striker.
"I'm confident it will never happen," the manager said. Click to continue reading...

In an interview with 'The Times' today, Rafa Benitez once again laid the blame for Robbie Keane's failure at Liverpool at the feet of the player himself, claiming that he was sold because 'he was not playing at the level we knew he could play'. In my view, Benitez's mis-managment was the real reason Keane did not prosper at Anfield. Click to continue reading...

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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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...

The four European World Cup Play-offs games are delicately posed heading into the second leg on Wednesday. Here is a look at each game, plus the big winner take all game in Africa.

Republic of Ireland 0-1 France
France were the one European team to win away from home on Saturday, putting them in the strongest position of all the teams playing on Wednesday.

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I like Cudicini I do. I knows he's not only a spud but an ex-chav as well but I've always liked him. I thought he was a great keeper, admired the way he handled things after he was shit on at Chelsea, and how could you not appreciate his gift to Henry at Highbury?
Being on a somewhat different planet for over a week now I've had a relative abscence of news in my life and what I have seen has arrived by way of Arsenal-related blogs.

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