Thierry Henry robs Ireland of World Cup place
Published 00:25 19/11/09 By Paul O'Hehir
Thierry Henry broke Irish hearts with a blatant handball last night.
The France striker used a hand twice to control the ball before crossing for William Gallas to head home 13 minutes into extra-time in their World Cup play-off.
Two France players were in offside positions as Florent Malouda played in the free-kick which led to the goal that booked Les Bleus a place in South Africa.
But neither Swedish referee Martin Hansson nor his linesman saw anything wrong – to the disbelief of Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni and his players.
Robbie Keane had lifted Irish hopes when he struck after 33 minutes to level the aggregate scores at 1-1.
Even Chelsea’s French star Malouda admitted: “We were very, very lucky.” But he added: “Thierry did not handle the ball on purpose.”
Irish coach Giovanni Trapattoni absolved Henry of blame, but accused the referee of making “a great mistake”.
Trapattoni said: “It’s a bitter evening. The referee had time to ask his linesman, and he could have asked Henry - he should have asked him.
“Henry could have said to the referee that he handled the ball. I am sure had the referee asked, Henry would have admitted it.”
Striker Kevin Doyle said the Irish had lost to an “embarrassing” goal. “You just expect these things to be seen by the officials,” the Wolves striker said.
“I'm sure if we had done the same thing, they would have seen it.
“It's so disappointing and depressing to think how close we came.”
Defender Sean St Ledger said: “We got robbed, you can tell by the boys' reaction it hit his hand blatantly.
“We feel cheated - we were the better team over the two legs.”
French coach Raymond Domenech said: “It was tough, laborious at times, miraculous at others but I only knew one thing, that it would be a 1-1 draw and we would qualify.”
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