When Irish eyes are seething with unquenchable rage...

Hoo, boy. So, France qualified for the 2010 World Cup yesterday... thanks to a 2-1 aggregate win over Ireland and a blatant, nay, OBSCENE handball by Frenchman Thierry Henry. The three Swedish refs managed to miss two offside French players, THEN failed to notice Henry palm the ball to keep it in-bounds and set up the goal. Even their own countrymen are miffed. Now the Irish Justice Minister is getting involved, demanding FIFA set a rematch.

It's not just national pride at stake here, but let's be honest, the revenue a World Cup berth can bring a national program. But hey, at least Henry's admitted his "mistake," a big consolation for the Irish team and its fans, I'm sure.

I guess this brings up that whole "luck of the Irish" business, eh?

Tell' em John.

Comments

[Gil Bouchard]

they should have video replay, it sure helps in North American style football....let the Irish have their re-match, they earned it........the French sure didn"t. It really doesn't matter, Brazil will just have beat one or the other!!!!

[bj]

there should be a re-match, if 3 refs missed it all from the same country there should also be some consequences for them, this is the biggest stage for Footy and the french are bad enough without getting through when they shouldn't have, good luck to the Irish if a re-match is granted, if no re-match then let the french meet England and our supporters .

[john]

i was hoping the irish would go through , some people think by having a video replay would solve the problem , but i say ,no; i for one hate video replay for the simple reason is having technology part of a game that is natural, being played on natural grass, players having little protection and playing with little than having a ball and shoes and that is the reason soccer is different than the other sports. this game is for skill and endurace in its natural enviroment . also it stops the flow of the game, fore example watching american football the clock says 3 minutes, the reason it takes 30 minutes to play 3minutes is because of videos the referees has to watch for penalties and stoppage of the plays. that game is completely controlled by videos and technology, which i dispise in sports. it takes away the human element of the game.

[Steve]

I would have to disagree with you, john. The REAL reason the NFL takes so long to play is because of the networks. Have you ever heard of a tv timeout? It happens in the NHL as well but not to the degree as the Americans. Don't get me wrong, I love the NFL but the commercial breaks are ridiculous. As far as video replay goes, I think it could work really well in soccer...just use it for goals that are disputed only. That way, the game continues to have its flow that we all love.

[Edson Arantes]

BRASIL, BRASIL, BRASIL

[errol cushley]

Think back to Mr Maradonna in the world cup with his hand of god goal against England.Well Henry is a French god and gods do no wrong according to FIFA.This is what is wrong with football.Until FIFA takes its head out off its a** there will always be this kind of travesty.The result unfortunately is that Ireland is not going to the world cup.

[Steven]

This is the exact reason why video replay should be brought into soccer. After the review this goal should have been disallowed and the player should have received a red card and sent off. Could France have won with only 10 players after that? No screw ups, no rematch.

[Dan Feehan]

This match should be played over. There is no question that it was a hand ball and no team should be disqualified from the WORLD CUP on such an oversight by the referees. We are not talking about a regular season match here. This is the WORLD CUP and it not fair to the Ireland players, the country of Ireland or the millions of Irish fans around the world. If the match is not replayed, it will leave a sour taste to not only the Irish fans but to all soccer fans around the world knowing that this same unfortunate situation can happen to their team. Go Ireland Go!

[Leon Kennedy]

The Irish were definitely cheated. I didn't see the offside at first but the handball was clear. After watching it about 10 times I understand know. And to make matters worse, FIFA denied Irelands request for a replay...this makes me and all the Irish very upset

[rick]

The real reason American football takes so long ,besides the commercials,is because it is not a game of skill and endurance that flows like soccer.Gridiron football is a game of collision, a series of set piece battles with a truce between each engagement to allow the combatants time to remove the wounded, plan the next assault on the line and give the General (coach) an opporortunity to demand an audience with the Referee. Then all the football lawyers on the sideline will inform him that he and his crew are incompetent morons and he must get it right by watching the last skirmish on a TV screen several times over. While all this transpires we get to watch the grass grow and listen to the inane drivel served up by commentators and announcers some of whom have no football playing experience at all. Is it any wonder that during the 3 hours or more required to complete a 60 minute football game that we actually get to see about 12 to 18 minutes real footbal action? Of course lets not forget that vital aspect of the sport known as the celebration which requires a well practiced card of dancing, gyrating, head butting, ass slapping and mouthing off, all of which are now part of footballs essential skills set and apparantly a prerequisite for victory. Thanks but I'll take the nonstop action of soccer complete with the mistakes, miscues and human frailties that go with it. Nothing in life is perfect and that includes sports..

[john]

rick i couldn't have said it any better. i grew up playing and watching american football, i'm 6'3" and played most sports, from the beginning i was taught to get the other players out of commission , that is the whole purpose of american football. soccer is growing leaps and bounds in north america and is about time. take a look at some of our athletes in sports in north america and when it comes to stamina and endurance we are pretty awful. soccer i believe is so natural with little technology and mostly human touch, thats what makes that sport so appealing . my kids love the game and only play that sport. maybe our kids will wake the nation up. but leave it to the media that will never happen because there is too much money in football and baseball and don't want soccer to succed . this is only a power play between the power to be in sports and the public

[huh?]

The reason that the NFL and NHL and the like are so popular in North America is the fact that these players get millions of dollars per season, sometimes for just the job of being a goon with little athletic ability or skill, then you could see how people are drawn to it, same reason why people read gossip mags, they're fascinated by celebrity and money and they want to surround themselves by it in some way. In Canada it's environment largely as well - rural areas with backyard rinks and long winters get a lot of boys into hockey. The ability to promote these sports through advertising and merchandising is huge and that's why the media latches on to them and doesn't give much attention to soccer. That being said, I agree soccer requires more skill and this is due partly to the lack of stoppage and required flow of the game. However, one skill you see soccer players hone is their acting skills! Players constantly diving to draw a card, etc., and now we're seeing serious errors of the like when it comes to goal attempts. They pull lots of sneeky dirty maneuvers because they can get away with it due to a lack of replay, and now we're seeing this crap interfere with the World Cup on such a disgustingly blatant scale is ridiculous. I really can't fathom how such a series of huge errors gets made on the part of the refs, and the whole thing reeks of a pay-off. Now I'm not too sure how much I would actually support replays being added due to the fact that the flow of the game is part of what makes it great, but FIFA is going to damage the integrity of the sport further if they don't grant a rematch.