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The title is an allusion to the Hand of God incident. Mayhaps some have heard of the huge scandal around the 2nd leg of the France v Ireland World Cup play-off, which caused an unprecedented row. Two weeks ago, France had won 1:0 in Dublin. On the return leg, the match ended 0:1 for Ireland in regular time, so 30 minutes of extra time were to be played. In the 13th minute of extra-time, this happened:
France eventually held the 1:1 score and thus avoided the penalty shoot-out, winning the play-off, 2-1 on aggregate. The Irish were outraged by this injustice. The referee refused to acknowledge a hand-play from Thierry Henry prior to William Gallas' goal, whereas everyone saw hand-play.
For fairness sake, Henry immediately admitted of breaking the rules. He said he noticed there was something wrong with that situation, but the ref didnt blow the whistle, so he continued to play. Come the end of the game, Henry went to the ref and to the devastated Irish players, and he confessed that he had used his hand.
The scandal grew over the media, and Henry was fair enough to admit everywhere that he had broken the rules, but it was the referee and noone else to decide whether its a goal or not. Henry said that the only solution is to replay the match. It made me proud with him, being an Arsenal fan myself (and he has been very respectful to all his opponents, including some praising statements about his former team Arsenal which really made my heart melt).
So all the blame fell on the ref of course. The Irish football association said that it'd be fair if the game is replayed, but FIFA said they saw no reason to authorise that - unless the French FA issued an official request for a re-play. So now the ball was in the French field.
But the French, in their typical froggish greasy style, refused! They said the match is officially over, and the case is closed!
Another reason for me to vomit whenever i hear the name France.
Of course i'm not surprised. They wouldnt risk being eliminated in a play-off and being thrown out of such an illustrious competition like the World Cup, by someone like Ireland. And why would they? The match is officially over, game over for Ireland.
I suspect FIFA are feeling an enormous relief too, that France will come to South Africa next year, albeit absolutely undeservedly, instead of Ireland. After all, its all about the money, yeah? And France is supposedly the bigger golden hen in terms of revenue (from TV rights, commercials, and match tickets) - though that, too, is rather disputable IMO.
Btw, FIFA again showed a tremendous amount of stupid by finding Henry himself to be the scapegoat, and now contemplating over the prospect of banning him for 3-4 international matches (which means he'll potentially miss the first half of France's campaign on the World Cup - provided they manage to emerge from the group, of course).
So, at the end of the day, Ireland is screwed, man. Screwed big time! And from now on, anyone who dares to mention in front of me about the "famous Irish luck", would have a nice sharp kick in the teeth, damn it.
(But meanwhile, Irish legend Roy Keane has a point, when he's saying that if the Irish had converted their goal chances, all of this mess would've been moot).
...
France eventually held the 1:1 score and thus avoided the penalty shoot-out, winning the play-off, 2-1 on aggregate. The Irish were outraged by this injustice. The referee refused to acknowledge a hand-play from Thierry Henry prior to William Gallas' goal, whereas everyone saw hand-play.
For fairness sake, Henry immediately admitted of breaking the rules. He said he noticed there was something wrong with that situation, but the ref didnt blow the whistle, so he continued to play. Come the end of the game, Henry went to the ref and to the devastated Irish players, and he confessed that he had used his hand.
The scandal grew over the media, and Henry was fair enough to admit everywhere that he had broken the rules, but it was the referee and noone else to decide whether its a goal or not. Henry said that the only solution is to replay the match. It made me proud with him, being an Arsenal fan myself (and he has been very respectful to all his opponents, including some praising statements about his former team Arsenal which really made my heart melt).
So all the blame fell on the ref of course. The Irish football association said that it'd be fair if the game is replayed, but FIFA said they saw no reason to authorise that - unless the French FA issued an official request for a re-play. So now the ball was in the French field.
But the French, in their typical froggish greasy style, refused! They said the match is officially over, and the case is closed!
Another reason for me to vomit whenever i hear the name France.
Of course i'm not surprised. They wouldnt risk being eliminated in a play-off and being thrown out of such an illustrious competition like the World Cup, by someone like Ireland. And why would they? The match is officially over, game over for Ireland.
I suspect FIFA are feeling an enormous relief too, that France will come to South Africa next year, albeit absolutely undeservedly, instead of Ireland. After all, its all about the money, yeah? And France is supposedly the bigger golden hen in terms of revenue (from TV rights, commercials, and match tickets) - though that, too, is rather disputable IMO.
Btw, FIFA again showed a tremendous amount of stupid by finding Henry himself to be the scapegoat, and now contemplating over the prospect of banning him for 3-4 international matches (which means he'll potentially miss the first half of France's campaign on the World Cup - provided they manage to emerge from the group, of course).
So, at the end of the day, Ireland is screwed, man. Screwed big time! And from now on, anyone who dares to mention in front of me about the "famous Irish luck", would have a nice sharp kick in the teeth, damn it.
...
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