World Cup Qualifiers: France v Ireland
I am not usually inclined to comment on World Cup qualifiers, especially if they don’t have much to do with either of the leagues that we cover exclusively here on the weekly sites, but this “right kerfuffle” as some are calling it, the handball by Thierry Henry is important, not only because of the its place as the story of the moment but also in the reaction that it’s having in the court of public opinion. Plus he plays for Barca marginally so I guess I can talk about it here.
First, let’s examine the incident. In a tight, close match, the deciding match of a pair of qualifiers that would propel the winner to the 2006 World Cup, Thierry Henry received a chipped pass into the left side of the area, his preferred side, it was a bit strong and was in the position to go out, but he stuck out his left palm like his friend Michael Jordan may have at one time and he guided it back into touch, for his knee and the awaiting forehead of William Gallas. The referee and his lineman missed the handball, France score the equalizing goal after a dour and lifeless affair to that point, and France advance. Was it a handball? Sure, he palmed it and redirected it so in fact it was two handballs in the area, the goal should have been disallowed and a Henry ought to have been red-carded. Was it blatant? Not at bad as this one I guess, where Paul Scholes in a match against Zenit St. Petersburg skies with his fist in the air and slams it into the net, celebrating as if he had headed the ball past the diving keeper, nor is it even as blatant as Don Diego‘s against England in World Cup 86. No, I watched that goal on a 32″ television as it happened, and not a blurry, you-tube compilation with a bad, Eurovision soundtrack in the background, and there is no way the Thierry Henry handball is the worst of all time. So can the histrionics.
The bottom line is this: Would that have secured a win for Ireland against 10 man France? No. Should that get the entire match replayed? No. Neither team played with the presence in mind to score the decisive goal. Both sat back on the counter, both waited for mistakes, and while some perceived that Ireland were doing it because of some perceived deference in quality, a lack of talent as compared to France, the fact is that the old-coot Trappatoni knows no other way to play it. France under Dommenech is another story. This is a squad that should already be making inroads internationally. The 1998 squad is gone and retired, and the conveyor belt of talent out of Clairefontaine keeps churning out top quality talent, but then somehow the National Team keeps struggling under Raymond Dommenech? France don’t need to play with shackles on and yet unbelievable they do. That’s the problem with managers. They create drones who can’t think for themselves when their managers have forgotten how. So no bonuses for the weak-willed on either side. No rewards.
What would I do. Replay the match for sure, there is precedent there with replays requested by FIFA in past qualifiers, but replay the match with time remaining. 1-1 on aggregate, extra-time was on, but Henry should be red-carded and Ireland should continue on with the man advantage. Give them that, extend the game further, and maybe take it beyond to the penalty shoot-out, but nothing more, and certainly nothing less. It’s a shame alright, one of the biggest in recent memory, but not the greatest shame in the History of the World. So chill.
