La Asociación de Futbol de Irlanda pide justicia. El día de ayer, la selección de Irlanda se plantó en el Stade de France donde fue eliminada del mundial en tiempos extra. Todo parecería normal pues Francia era favorita en esta serie de repechaje. Sin embargo, la imagen clara de la mano de Thierry Henry le ha dado la vuelta al mundo.

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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...

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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Congratulations FIFA, they've got the World Cup they wanted now haven't they, and I hope their proud of how they got it. It was a ridiculous decision to seed the World Cup play-offs in the first place, and ultimately prevent the the hard-work in qualifying of teams like Ukraine, Bosnia and of course the Republic of Ireland.

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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...

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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No more. Done. Finito. Acabou. The fight for the 32 golden spots to play the most exciting football (and sports) tournament on the planet has ended. Some big ones almost did not manage. And some return after 24 years.

Today was the day for the last 6 squads to qualify. The brave (or lucky?

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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...

The final six World Cup 2010 places all get decided today, with the second legs of the four European playoffs and the CONMEBOL vs CONCACAF game, plus the special Algeria vs Egypt single game playoff for the final African qualifying spot.

It's all very very tight. The winners of these six ties get the the glory, the losers learn firsthand the meaning of the word "nearly".

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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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Its all pretty confusing but it seems that Raymond Domenech was complaining that they were really playing the English B squad. Or some bowdlerized version which of course even if untrue is used to motivate your players. Which is what got Richard Dunne all bent out of shape. He had been using Domenech as comedy material before the match.

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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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Wolves striker Kevin Doyle believes that Ireland are capable of upsetting France in their upcoming World Cup play-off games.
The striker feels that, despite their underdog status, Ireland have an excellent chance of advancing to South Africa at the expense of Raymond Domenech's side, beaten finalists in Germany in 2006. 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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Irish hopes of arriving en masse for the second leg of their World Cup playoff with France were dashed when the French federation allocated 10 percent of tickets for visitors to the Stade de France. Both France and the Republic of Ireland finished second in their respective World Cup groups and ... Click to continue reading...

The French Football Federation (FFF) have struck a blow to hopes of Ireland fans after restricting the away side's allocation to 8000 for the second leg of the World Cup play-off in the Stade de France.
The French are running scared of a potential Irish invasion of Paris.In 2004 Ireland were backed by a 30,000 strong support as they held France to a 0-0 draw in a World Cup qualifier in Paris. Click to continue reading...

The 2010 World Cup in South Africa looms ever closer as teams from around the world compete for a chance to play in the worlds most prestigious sporting event. The FIFA World Cup Games begin on June 1th this summer and will run until July 11th. Only 32 nations will be honored enough to play in the games.

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The Republic of Ireland national football team will have to beat France in order to participate in the 2010 World Cup South Africa. This was decided in Zurich this afternoon (Monday) in a controversial seeded draw.

The two sides (Ireland and France) last met in the 2006 World Cup qualifying stages sharing a 0-0 draw in Paris; a Thierry Henry goal was the difference between the two sides in Ireland.

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Towards the end of Frances' 3-1 win over Austria in the Stade de France, one wacky and totally original soul ran out on the pitch, waving a French flag. Unfortunately, this human waste of time didn't wear the right shoes for pitch invading, and so he went down hard right at midfield, before scrambling to his feet and evading stewards just so he could get taken down with a proper crunch moments later.

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The FIFA 2010 World Cup Qualification process is wrapping up as most regions will determine their automatic spots today. All that will remain is play-off matches for UEFA as well as matches in the CAF and a play-off between 5th place CONMEBOL and 4th place CONCACAF.

Here's a list of video highlights for all of the FIFA 2010 World Cup Qualifying matches on Wednesday, October 14, 2009.

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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...

For ranking methodology and other information about the series, see the original post. To read the about the No. 9-rated stadium, the Bombonera in Buenos Aires click here. To see all "soccer mecca" entries click here.
8. Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti (El Monumental), Buenos Aires
Open since: 1938 (renovated 1978)
Capacity: 66,000
Tenant(s): River Plate, Argentine national team
World Cup hosts: 1978
Closest U. Click to continue reading...

Some familiar faces that we may not see at World Cup 2010.Domenech's French side came up with another dismal display resulting in a 1-1 draw against Romania at the Stade de France on Saturday. Thierry Henry might be another familiar face gone missing from the World Cup next year unless France come up with some missing magic.

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When it makes the Guardian, it has some legs to it, and the story is that Henry and Doms had a bust-up.

Following the match that ended in a 1-1 draw at the Stade de France versus Romania, Henry reportedly charged Domenech with a lack of style. Henry reportedly stated that the players were uninspired by training sessions, and added, "I have been in the France team for 12 years and never have I been in this situation.

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Por Halftown El pasado sábado se disputó la final del Trofeo de Campeones, la Supercopa francesa, entre el campeón de liga, el Girondins de Burdeos, y el campeón de copa, el En Avant Guingamp de la Ligue 2. El partido acabó 2-0 para el equipo que baila al son de Gourcuff, el mayor talento salido del país galo en los últimos diez años. Click to continue reading...

Organizers at FIFA headquarters have decided to snub the Los Angeles All-Star soccer event that was to be held last weekend. Everything was in place to host the U.S. MLS All-Star team crew who were to play against a select group of world soccer stars.

France's Patrick Viera in action during the international friendly match, France vs Argentina at the stade de France, in Saint-Denis, near Paris on February 7, 2007.

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Everybody's doing the logo-motion
- click on photos to enlarge image -
Pure self indulgence or just a bit of a laugh!? The EFW logo has been kicking out the jams at a variety of places in the last few weeks. Since we launched the Gallery (part 1) in April, I've been sending them out and you've been sending them in. Click to continue reading...

A couple of small "end of season" updates.
French Ligue 2 side Guingamp became only the second non-top flight club to win the French Cup on Saturday (and the first for 50 years) when they came from 1-0 down to beat Stade Rennes 2-1 in front of a sell-out 80,000 crowd at the Stade de France. Click to continue reading...

Carlos Bocanegra and Rennes were denied their first trophy in 38 years, losing 2-1 to Guingamp in a dramatic Coupe de France final. Bocanegra headed Rennes in front at the Stade de France, after he got on the end of a freekick midway through the second half. But lower division Guingamp did not give up, with Eduardo grabbing two goals in the space of 11 minutes to turn the tide. Click to continue reading...

Just days after compatriot Tim Howard advanced to a Cup final, Carlos Bocanegra and Rennes did the same in France. Rennes advanced to the Coupe de France final with a 1-0 victory against Grenoble. Moussa Sow's header in the first half proved to be the difference, while Bocanegra played 90 minutes at center back (not his customary position during his first season in france in France). Click to continue reading...

Interesting interview with Patrice Evra this week on the fan culture in France, and particlarly the French fans' habit of not supporting (or, to be more accurate, booing, whistling and ripping into) the French team.

"I have been very disappointed by the behaviour of the fans," the 27-year-old told reporters.

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