Source: Daily_Mail
Hand of God II: Henry confesses he cheated Ireland out of World Cup
Thierry Henry admittted he cheated Ireland out of a World Cup place after his handball led to the decisive goal for France in last night's play-off.[LNB] A controversial extra-time equaliser from William Gallas, who headed in Henry's pass to make it 1-1, gave France a 2-1 aggregate win and broke Irish hearts in Paris.[LNB]'I will be honest, it was a handball,' said former Arsenal striker Henry, 'but I'm not the ref. It would have been better to do it in another way, but as I said, I'm not the ref.'[LNB] Disgrace: Thierry Henry clearly handles the ball before the crucial goal[LNB]In an incident reminiscent of Diego Maradona's infamous Hand of God goal against England in 1986, Henry clearly handled twice to keep the ball in play in the build-up to the goal.[LNB] Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni said: 'This is the biggest disappointment of my career. The referee (Swede Martin Hansson) had time to ask the linesman and then to ask Henry. He made a great mistake.'[LNB] Ireland defender Richard Dunne said: 'Henry admitted afterwards he handled it. We were cheated'[LNB]VIDEO: Henry robs Ireland...[LNB]Defender Sean St Ledger said they felt "robbed".[LNB]Robbie Keane's goal had earlier cancelled out Nicolas Anelka's first-leg strike to take the tie into extra time. [LNB]St Ledger told Sky Sports News: 'We got robbed, you can tell by the boys' reaction it hit his hand blatantly. [LNB] 'We feel cheated - we were the better team over the two legs, every football fan in the stadium will say we were the better team tonight. [LNB] 'It's cost a lot of us our dreams - as a boy I used to dream of playing in the World Cup, and now I'm not." [LNB] Show of hands: Republic of Ireland keeper Shay Given (left) leads the protests[LNB] HAVE YOUR SAY... Have you lost all respect for Thierry Henry? France star Thierry Henry blatantly cheated with his handball that helped his country reach the World Cup finals at the expense of Republic of Ireland. The forward earned a reputation as one of the greatest players to ever grace the Premier League with class on and off the pitch. But is that now overshadowed by his act of cheating? TELL US WHAT YOU THINK And the 24-year-old, on loan at Middlesbrough from Preston NorthEnd, called for video technology to be introduced to prevent suchcontroversies in the future. [LNB]'I don't understand why we haven't got replays in this day and age,' he continued. [LNB]'You can get replays within 10, 30 seconds and it would have helped today.' [LNB]While St Ledger was critical of Henry for his part in the incident,he did not feel the forward's reputation in the game would suffer. [LNB]He added: 'He's said it hit his hand accidentally but if you look at it you can clearly see it hits his hand twice. [LNB]'I'm not sure (his reputation) has been tarnished - it doesn't look great but he's got his team to the World Cup finals. [LNB]'If it had been one of our team we'd have probably done the same. [LNB]'The blame doesn't necessarily fall on him but he's handled it, everyone can see it around the world.'[LNB]Giovanni Trapattoni admitted he would rather have suffered the heartache of penalty shoot-out defeat that see the Republic of Ireland were dumped out by William Gallas' controversial winner. [LNB]Trapattoni said: 'I am not only disappointed, I am also sad. It is a bitter evening. [LNB] 'It's a bitter situation. I would prefer to have gone out on penalties. [LNB] No luck of the Irish: Ireland's coach Giovanni Trappatoni and Glenn Whelan show their frustration[LNB]'I am sad because the referee had time to ask the linesman. I am sure he should have, and he could have confirmed it was handball. [LNB] 'I am upset. We speak many times about fair play. I go to schools and speak about fair play. I speak with the young kids about sport. Its important in life. [LNB]'Everybody saw the game. You know what happened.' [LNB]Ireland's dreams were torn apart 13 minutes into extra-time after the ball reached Henry deep inside the penalty area.[LNB]VIDEO: Reaction to France victory... [LNB]He appeared to control twice with his hand before squaring for Gallas, who bundled it home to level on the night and give the French the decisive goal in the tie. [LNB]Furious goalkeeper Shay Given led the protests to Swedish referee Martin Hansson and his assistant, but to no avail as France held out to squeeze through to next summer's finals in South Africa. [LNB]It was especially hard luck on the Republic, who were the better side for long periods at the Stade de France. [LNB] Floored: Republic keeper Shay Given after the final whistle[LNB] [LNB]They took the lead on the night when skipper Robbie Keane fired home from Damien Duff's 32nd-minute cross, and had several opportunities to increase their advantage. [LNB]John O'Shea fired over from a good position two minutes after the restart and Duff went through one on one with keeper Hugo Lloris with 61 minutes gone, but came away second best. [LNB]And so despite not losing any of their six away games during the qualifying campaign, including trips to Italy and France, the Irish slipped to a fifth defeat in six play-off ties as a new heartbreaking chapter in their football history was written. [LNB]Assistant boss Liam Brady said it was 'a sad day for football', although by then, there was no way back. [LNB]Trapattoni said: 'France played well in Dublin, but tonight we played better. [LNB] 'And over two games, we deserved to go to South Africa. But the result is different. We can only wish them well. They can do well in South Africa.' [LNB]France coach Raymond Domenech's press conference bordered on farce when there was initially no interpreter, although when later questioned about Gallas' goal, he was terse to say the least. [LNB]He said: 'I did not see a hand. It's you people who are speaking about this. [LNB]'Sometimes we feel unlucky like we were against Serbia, sometimes we feel lucky. [LNB]'I just want to congratulate the Irish team. I am disappointed for the public and the fans. In a way, I regret that they did not qualify. [LNB]'I very happy for the players and the staff and the people here. The only word we need to say tonight is that we are very happy at the qualification.' [LNB] France 1 Ireland 1 (aet): Luck of the Irish runs out after Gallas goal ends dreamVIDEO SPECIAL: Thierry Henry joins Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero among others in football's handballing cheats hall of fameWORLD CUP PLAY-OFFS LIVE: Ireland crash out of World Cup after Henry's hand helps put the French throughSlovenia 1 Russia 0: Dedic decider sends hosts into World Cup dreamlandPortugal 1 Bosnia 0: Alves header gives Queiroz's side slender lead Algeria 1 Egypt 0: Yahia's cracker settles stunning Sudan death match[LNB] [LNB] Explore more:People:Robbie Keane, Nicolas Anelka, Martin Hansson, Raymond Domenech, Damien Duff, Shay Given, Diego Maradona, Liam Brady, Thierry Henry, John O'Shea, WILLIAM GALLAS, Richard DunnePlaces:Paris, Dublin, Ireland, South Africa, United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Italy, France
