say what you like re cheating but if that mcshane had bothered his ass to attack the ball in the air henry wouldnt have the chance to do what he had been doing at arsenal for years. basic defending im afraid. take it on the chin and suck it up boys most of ye couldnt afford to go to south africa anyways. youd all have to remortgage your tents.

reddoctor (Tyrone) - Posts: 1241 - 19/11/2009 08:27:08    488009

Im obviously as gutted as the rest about the result but to blame it solely on Henry isnt right.
Blame the ref, blame FIFA for seeding teams, blame the lack of a TV ref but dont blame Henry cos not many would be calling Robbie Keane, Richard Dunne etc cheats if one of them handled the ball into the net or set up a goal with the hand.
Fair play to Ireland they gave it everything.

bosch (Derry) - Posts: 873 - 19/11/2009 08:44:39    488012

Breffni39 there is no video ref!

bosch (Derry) - Posts: 873 - 19/11/2009 08:45:28    488013

Vent your anger here guys..... http://www.fifa.com/contact/validate.htmx

Rex (Waterford) - Posts: 74 - 19/11/2009 08:48:32    488014

Night time Robbery!

mugsys_barber (Tyrone) - Posts: 2160 - 19/11/2009 09:04:58    488021

What is with the henry-bashing??every soccer player cheats,between diving looking for frees and penalties,and feigning injuries and handling the ball,they all do it at some stage or another. WHAT PEOPLE HERE SHOULD BE ANNOYED ABOUT IS THE BLATANT CORRUPTION WHICH TOOK PLACE IN ORDER TO GET FRANCE TO THE WORLD CUP.IF PEOPLE CANT SEE THIS WHOLE PLAYOFF FOR WHAT IT IS,THEN I AM AMAZED.SOCCER IS SO CORRUPT AND EVEN THE MOST DIE-HARD SOCCER-HEADS ON HERE MUST ADMIT THAT.IT STARTED WITH THE PLAYOFF DRAW BEING SEEDED SO THAT THE LIKES OF FRANCE WOULD BE GIVEN THE BEST CHANCE POSSIBLE TO GO THROUGH.FIFA NEEDS FRANCE AT THE WORLD CUP,AND IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A HUGE SETBACK FOR THEM IF THEY HADNT GONE THROUGH. AS FOR THE GAME LAST NIGHT,ROBBIE KEANE HAD ABOUT FIVE FREES GIVEN AGAINST HIM FOR MINOR HAND-BALL OFFENCES,AND PROBABLY RIGHTLY SO,BUT NONE WERE NEARLY AS BLATANTLY OBVIOUS AS HENRYS WAS,AND PROBABLY GALLAS HAND-BALLED IT ASWELL.THIS REFEREE AND HIS ASSISTANTS WERE OBVIOUSLY UNDER INSTRUCTIONS TO HELP OUT FRANCE,ITS AS SIMPLE AS THAT!THERE IS NO WAY THAT NONE OF THEM SAW HENRYS HANDBALL,AS THEY HAD SEEN EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE GAME,KEANES HAND-BALLS INCLUDED.I WILL ASK PEOPLE,IF IT WAS AN IRELAND DEFENDER ON THE END OF THAT FREE-KICK IN HENRYS POSITION,AND HANDLED IN THE SAME WAY,DO YE REALLY THINK THAT NONE OF THE OFFICIALS WOULD HAVE SEEN IT AND GIVEN A PENALTY?YOU CAN BET YOUR LIFE THEY WOULD HAVE!THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NOBODY "OBSTRUCTING THE REFEREES VIEW" HAD THAT HAPPENED. I AM NOT A HUGE SOCCER FAN,AND WOULDNT REALLY CARE IF IRELAND MADE IT TO THE WORLD CUP OR NOT,BUT I AM A HUGE SPORTS FAN.AND WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT WAS SIMPLY NOT SPORT,IT WAS SIMPLE CHEATING,CORRUPTION AT ITS UGLIEST.AND NOT BY HENRY IN MY EYES(HE DID WHAT ANY PLAYER WOULD DO),BUT BY FIFA AND THE POWERS THAT BE. IF I HADNT ALREADY LOST MY LIKING OF SOCCER,LAST NIGHT WOULD HAVE SEALED THE DEAL.

lyoto.machida (Meath) - Posts: 343 - 19/11/2009 09:19:00    488030

tomaoo7
County: Dublin
Posts: 4768

487886 My faith has being restored in Irish soccer after 02 im proud of them players tonight -God Bless...
-------------------
I will second that tomaoo, they played like a real team last nite, outplayed the French on their own turf and kept their much vaunted superstars in their back pockets for most of the match. Where do Ireland go from here, of course they will be in demand for pre world cup friendlies by qualified nations, then the qualifiers for the Euros will start in the autumn, but how many of this team will still be playing and do we have enough talent coming through to keep up the momentum.

BTW I watched the game online with spanish commentary, interested to know what dunphy and the boys had to say?

brendtheredhand (Tyrone) - Posts: 10897 - 19/11/2009 09:25:07    488033

The FAI have to lodge a complaint and get some justice for us out of this. At the very least Henry deserves to serve a 5 match world cup ban. If then he didn't get to play in SA that would be small but at least some justice.

It's a football crime and all crime needs to be punished and to be seen to be punished. otherwise FIFA look like a French joke!

Real Louth fan (Louth) - Posts: 3157 - 19/11/2009 09:33:46    488036

Deal with the cross McShane

NavyNBlue (Dublin) - Posts: 1357 - 19/11/2009 09:45:50    488045

Sickened. I see on sky sports this mornin henry said to dunne "I cheated" when sitting on the ground next to him. It's plain as day to see. But he won't admit it to the press.

Also, I didn't need last night to make me proud of that Irish team

Derry_ledd (Derry) - Posts: 2093 - 19/11/2009 09:50:30    488050

Robbie Keane was pulled 3 if not 4 times for handling the ball during last nights game . Many of these decisions were borderline ie. shoulder contact etc. But yet none of the four officials seen Henry stop the bal lfrom going over the end line with his hand, control it with his hand and then make the pass which ultimately ended up with the ball being passed into the Irish net by another French player. I don't believe for one second that the hand ball was not witnessed by the linesman on the opposite side of the field nor do I believe that the same official did not see the two French players in off-side positions when the free kick which lead to the goal being scored was taken. This official appeared to have a clear line of view throughout. By the way Nicolas Anelka is another French player you can add to the French cheat list. With regard to the Irish team John O'Shea once again **** on the eggs and tamely limped off the field of battle when the Ireland team and supporters most needed him. I hope for his sake he doesn't line out for Man Utd at the weekend.

BartleDoo (Monaghan) - Posts: 389 - 19/11/2009 09:59:12    488054

Cheating will ye stop.......tell me any sport where no cheating occurs ....players will do anything to win if they can get away it.
If Robbie Kean had done the same we'd be all laughing now.

chainsaw (Laois) - Posts: 712 - 19/11/2009 10:21:28    488074

Remember reading a survey a few months back in which 50% of French people admitted to washing only once a week. 'Nuff said.

Dr.Shephard (Leitrim) - Posts: 2187 - 19/11/2009 10:25:19    488078

bosch
County: Derry
Posts: 150

488013 Breffni39 there is no video ref!

There is a fourth official who has access to video replays - thats how Zidane got sent off in the world cup final. They are not allowed to relay any information to the referee but they obviously do on certain occasions. Maybe this has been changed but it was the case up until recently.

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12452 - 19/11/2009 10:27:47    488080

the second the free was taken i was waitning for an irish back to head it out,it was lofted in the box,waitng for it!!dunphy was dead rigth mcshane was an accident waiting to happen!i got the fright of my life when i saw him on the sideline wearing number 13 on his back!!! i do agree that the playoff draw was scandalous but the referee was not corrupt,if he was he would have given the anelka penalty.henry should apologise if he has any decency even though it wouldnt mean **** to me!!

catch_it_wil_ya (Galway) - Posts: 541 - 19/11/2009 10:36:11    488089

Beffni39 - that cannot count as a video ref. Zidane was sent off cos the ref saw him head butt the italian in the chest he didnt need a 4th official to tell him after a video replay. And if he did then the sending off shouldnt have stood as there is no video ref like they have in rugby.
Surely the only people who can advise on a sending off is the 2 linesmen and the ref. The 4th official wouldnt even come into it.

bosch (Derry) - Posts: 873 - 19/11/2009 10:37:15    488093

19/11/2009 09:25:07
brendtheredhand
County: Tyrone
Posts: 1271

-------------------
I will second that tomaoo, they played like a real team last nite, outplayed the French on their own turf and kept their much vaunted superstars in their back pockets for most of the match. Where do Ireland go from here, of course they will be in demand for pre world cup friendlies by qualified nations, then the qualifiers for the Euros will start in the autumn, but how many of this team will still be playing and do we have enough talent coming through to keep up the momentum.

BTW I watched the game online with spanish commentary, interested to know what dunphy and the boys had to say?


Dunphy and co were like everyone else on here, absolutely heartbroken by what happened. Dunphy was spitting with rage in fact! They also gave huge credit to the Irish team for the courageous performance they put in. I thought the senior players in the team were magnificent - Keane, Duff, Dunne, Andrews and Lawerence both played stormers too. It was clear from the likes of these boys just how much it meant to them to get to the World Cup. The work rate and desire was plain to be seen. But for all the physical pain they went through last night, it wont hurt as much the heart break they'll feel this morning.

George Hamilton said it perfectly - "Thierry Henry, the thief of Saint Denis".

Rio Bingo (Tyrone) - Posts: 788 - 19/11/2009 10:45:21    488101

We were robbed.

But we should have won the game in normal time. Doyle, O' Shea, Duff and Keane all have great chances to score.

Nevertheless it was a fantastic Irish performance, the best I'e seen since we beat Holland.

men_of_49 (Meath) - Posts: 2019 - 19/11/2009 10:46:57    488102

19/11/2009 09:45:50
NavyNBlue
County: Dublin
Posts: 219

488045 Deal with the cross McShane

So you excuse cheating?

Real Louth fan (Louth) - Posts: 3157 - 19/11/2009 10:52:16    488106

SICK!

OLLIE (Louth) - Posts: 12224 - 19/11/2009 11:05:46    488123