Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni has vented his fury at FIFA in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport.
'I would like to know what have I done to (Sepp) Blatter,' Trapattoni said. 'If he explains it to me at least I would be calm.
'I often go to schools and speak of fair play. Click to continue reading...

Thierry Henry now says that a replay would be the fair thing, but FIFA won't have any of it. Roy Keane thinks FAI should drop the cause and move on, and France's coach Raymond Domenech seems just happy to have qualified.
The KC Star got in on the act today, as Matt Schofield chimes in on the story, laying out the details for those who haven't yet heard of them and offering a modern-day morality lesson. Click to continue reading...

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...

Many people have been calling for the France v Rep. Ireland game to be replayed, but I'm not too sure if this will be possible. Sure, I think the game wasn't fair and France don't deserve to go to the World Cup, but I'm not sure if you can simply decide to replay this match how can it be considered to be fair, when bad refereeing decisions affect matches all the time, I don't quite understand how this match can warrant a replay when others don't.

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Latest development in the already long running Thierry Henry handball incident (or "la main de dieu" as it's being called by some) is that Henry himself thinks a replay is a good idea:

"The fairest solution would be to replay the game but it is not in my control," said the Barcelona striker.

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Las manos ya no solo sirven a los arqueros para rescatar a sus equipos de la derrota. Ahora, también ayudan a los jugadores para avanzar en rondas finales, en copas del rey, en ligas y hasta para conseguir un boleto del mundial.

A continuación, el top cinco de goles con la mano.

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Aunque usted no lo crea, Thierry Henry ha dicho que lo más justo debería ser la repetición del partido.

Seguramente, la selección de Irlanda debe estar maldiciendo sus declaraciones. No sé cómo interpretar las siguientes palabras que dijo el jugador: "Naturalmente me siento avergonzado por la forma en que ganamos y lo lamento mucho por los irlandeses".

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It's difficult to answer that question with any precision. But seems the answer is "a lot more corrupt than we realized". Because German prosecutors think it's corrupt enough that 200 games of European football need to be investigating. Including 12 in the Europa League and at least three in the Champions League. Click to continue reading...

The appetite for commentary on the farce in Paris still seems strong, and I thought Arsene Wenger had a very wise take on the entire situation today.� Wenger is, obviously, a French supporter and very close with Henry.� In fairness to the Irish fans, the world football community, and for the sake of Henry, he called for the game to be replayed.

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A few years back, when my daughter was maybe three, she did one of those things which, before you have kids, you swear your little darling will never do. I can't even remember what it was. Bit her brother, maybe? Hit him? Whatever it was, it was something which caused pain to her brother, and something she knew she shouldn't have done.

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Shockingly there's a full weekend of soccer action about to start. I know, how can that be?!?! Have the authorities lost their minds? With Thierry Henry roaming the streets, handling a ball, destroying a nation's economy, causing cancer and eating children, it's hard to believe European governments are allowing people out of their houses. Click to continue reading...

OK, after taking this week off to mostly just troll other blogs and not comment too much on MLS or soccer in general after letting last week's loss sink in, I do have some thoughts on a rash of topics:
(But before I begin, I have to tell you my favorite lines from anyone about events so far this week. Click to continue reading...

Big Story
UEFA yesterday revealed more information about investigations into over 200 individuals alleged to have fixed matches in nine different countries with a press conference. This revealed that the vast majority under suspicion are domestic matches, with the German authorities having requested information from UEFA's Betting Fraud Detection System in a number of cases, making 17 arrests yesterday.

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I thought I should jump in on this issue while the water is still warm and explain an Irish view of Wednesday's larceny. In Ireland we do not do football dramas in small measures, Roy Keane's walkout at the 2002 World Cup practically sparked a civil war and now the 'Hand of Henry' has turned into a diplomatic incident.

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Thierry Henry has backed calls for a replay of the Ireland-Italy World Cup playoff he helped decide with his now infamous handball, even though FIFA has already rejected a request for a replay.

"Naturally I feel embarrassed at the way that we won and feel extremely sorry for the Irish who definitely deserve to be in South Africa," said Henry.

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Thierry Henry has backed calls for a replay of the Ireland-Italy World Cup playoff he helped decide with his now infamous handball, even though FIFA has already rejected a request for a replay.

"Naturally I feel embarrassed at the way that we won and feel extremely sorry for the Irish who definitely deserve to be in South Africa," said Henry.

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NB. Turn your phone off before attending Ipswich press conference Roy Keane's latest press conference proved to be rich pickings for the journos in attendance. Not only was he very outspoken in his criticism of the Republic of Ireland's protests over Thierry Henry's handball, he also took the opportunity to petrify some of the hacks. Click to continue reading...

Pocas veces un jugador se ha hecho tan famoso por un gol que hizo otro compañero. El gol que metió a Francia en Sudáfrica 2010 lo convirtió William Gallas, pero el autor intelectual fue Thierry Henry, que utilizó su brazo y su mano para acomodar un balón indomable y dar el pase a su compañero. Click to continue reading...

Since Thierry Henry's handball on Wednesday, the former Arsenal striker's reaction has gone from arrogance, to indifference to being contrite. From where I sit, this simply proves that Henry is a Public Relations driven phony. He's cultivated an image for over a decade in conjunction with his handlers and now sees the possibility it can all come undone.

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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...

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...

Thank God, it's over! This was truly the interlull from hell. Not only was our best current player injured for almost two months, but our best former player has been branded "a cheat" and "a liar." I have refrained from covering and incessantly commenting on this whole affair because I am just absolutely sick to death of the British media.

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Sports pundits and fans are going full tilt at Thierry Henry calling him a "cheat", "morally reprehensible", "unsportsmanlike", "a snake oil salesman".

Richard Williams crosses that line when as a Brit he forgives Maradona's hand of God goal saying it amounts to breeding.

"To rank the incident in Paris alongside Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" in 1986 is misleading.

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It´s official FIFA has rejected the call to replay the France vs Ireland World Cup 2010 qualifying match which was won by France afterThierry Henry handballed twice in the last moments to allowteam-mate Gallas to score the qualifying goal.As expected the "blacklash" has been Worldwide with responses fromall around the global. Click to continue reading...

Image via Wikipedia The Irish Justice Minister had already asked Football's Highest Governing Body, FIFA for a replay match for the World Cup qualification after the controversial incident of Thierry Henry handling the ball in the Irish penalty zone before passing the ball to teammate William Gallas who headed home. Click to continue reading...

It is Friday, which means it is time to prepare for non-stop action from Spain with La Liga back in the fray.� After an intense week of World Cup qualifying playoffs, the focus turns back to the domestic responsibilities.

The times listed are Eastern Standard Time (EST) and include the pregame pleasantries, although sometimes the matches on the DIRECTV La Liga specific channels may not go to match coverage until right before kickoff.

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I know I should write about Thierry Henry at some point. But how do you write about your hero after he cheats to win and gets away with it.

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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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Author Randall Barfield sends us 10 questions from his Little Soccer Quiz Book.

See how many you get right >>

1. Sir Alex Ferguson is boss of which UK team?
2. In what city is the Santiago Bernabeu stadium located?

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My introduction to Daniele De Rossi was the vicious elbow that he threw at Brian McBride, leaving his face bloody in the USA vs Italy match in the 2006 World Cup. It left a negative impression of him but here is De Rossi doing something rare in football nowadays, acknowledging that he used his hand to score a goal against Serie side Messina.

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La forma en que Francia ha llegado al Mundial de Sudáfrica no es por medio de la trampa como vulgarmente la han querido vender algunos medios y la han comprado muchos aficionados. Ha llegado por medio de un error garrafal del cuerpo arbitral que no vio una mano monumental (o no quiso marcar).

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On this episode of the EPL Talk Podcast, host Kartik Krishnaiyer and French Football expert Dave Trotter discuss one of the most controversial football stories of the year — the Thierry Henry handball incident for France against Ireland which ended up knocking the Republic Of Ireland out of the World Cup qualifying match while France will be making their way to South Africa next summer.

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Thierry Henry's blatent handball has caused a wave of consternation in the blogosphere and further calls for the introduction of video technology.
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Stowe sent me this "100 Greatest Quotes from The Wire" video on Twitter the other day, and I watched it, and I was like, "Oh my God, The Wire," because I haven't seen it in a few years and this sort of brought it all back. Then, for no obvious reason, this video started tugging at my brain after the Thierry Henry handball rocked the core of everything that had a core to rock yesterday.

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