Source: Daily_Mail
Hand of the devil: Thierry Henry slated by French media for inglorious goal
There was plenty of sympathy for the Republic of Ireland in the French media today after the controversial extra-time goal that denied them a place in next summer's World Cup finals.[LNB]Two-touch game: Thierry Henry's handball[LNB]National newspaper L'Equipe ran the headline 'Hand of God' [LA MAIN DE DIEU] on its front page this morning after skipper Thierry Henry admitted to handling the ball in the lead-up to William Gallas' goal which secured an aggregate victory.[LNB]Le Monde admitted the goal was a fraught ending to a stuttering qualification campaign for the French, with their main headline reading 'Blues relieved, Irishdisgusted' while ponniting out 'la tricherie' [the cheating] that the Irish Press is raging about.[LNB]L'Equipe also gave the French players scathing marks, nine of them getting five or less, and only keeper Hugo Lloris escaping la colere with nine out of ten and William Gallas getting seven.[LNB]Ironically, L'Equipe marked Henry so low because he did not 'prendre les choses en main' [take matters in hand] - but from what we saw, we all thought that's exactly what he did.[LNB]Le Figaro was rather more conciliatory, reporting the match with a headline quoting Henry insisting: 'Je ne suis pas l'arbitre' [I am not the referee] before he concluded: 'l'objectif est rempli' [our objective has been fulfilled].[LNB] Enlarge Enlarge Two views: Le Figaro called it the hand of the devil while L'Equipe preferred to deify Thierry Henry with a hand of God reference[LNB]Unhappy: Sud Ouest [LNB]However, there was little conciliatory in their blogging of 'Thierry Henry, la main du diable?' [The hand of the devil?] and they compared their main man to Diego Maradona in 1986 -without the brilliance that followed.[LNB]Le Sud Ouest also likened Henry to Maradona and reminded us that Argentina won the World Cup after his feat (or hand) before concluding it was lucky 'Henry n'avait pas ses mains dans les poches' [Henry didn't have his hands in his pockets at the time].[LNB]France coach Raymond Domenech has come in for criticism during his side's below-par campaign and the manner with which qualification to South Africa was finally accomplished has not convinced the French media.[LNB]Former World Cup winner Bixente Lizarazu, who is now a televisionand radio pundit, was outspoken following the match describing theperformance as 'catastrophic'.[LNB]Speaking on TF1 he wailed it was'qualification sans gloire' [qualification without glory] and added:'We're going to go the World Cup, but we go to the locker-room with ourheads bowed. It was not something to be proud of. I'm not going toparty.'[LNB] French Football Federation president Jean-Pierre Escalettes admitted he understood the Irish frustrations.[LNB] Irish despair: The French media has sympathised with Ireland keeper Shay Given (left) and defender and Sean St Ledger[LNB]'We were stunned and were not able to develop our game - I understand that the Irish are frustrated,' he told L'Equipe.[LNB]'They must forget this evening and use it for the future. You have to take a philosophical approach to this match. Football is played on small details, however, qualification is still beautiful.'[LNB] Qu'est-ce que c'est? Shay Given wants answers after Thierry Henry's juggling act [LNB] The Republic players were understandably angered by referee Martin Hansson'sdecision not to chalk off the goal, although their feeling of injustice would hardly have been helped by Domenech's claim in L'Equipe that his side had deserved a penalty in the earlier in the build-up to France's goal.[LNB]The 57-year-old said he believed there had been a foul on defender Sebastien Squillaci as he jumped for the cross that Henry handled.[LNB] Republic of Ireland call for France replay after Thierry Henry's handball scandalVIDEO SPECIAL: Thierry Henry joins Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero among others in football's handballing cheats hall of fameHand of God II: France striker Thierry Henry confesses he cheated to rob Republic of Ireland of World Cup place Graham Poll: Cheats never prosper? Well, France certainly did in Paris[LNB][LNB] Explore more:People:Martin Hansson, Raymond Domenech, Shay Given, Diego Maradona, WILLIAM GALLAS, Thierry HenryPlaces:Republic of Ireland, Ireland, South Africa, Argentina, FranceOrganisations:French Football Federation
