Thierry Henry has admitted he handled the ball in the build up to France's vital goal against Republic of Ireland, but pointed the finger of blame firmly at referee Martin Hansson.

France were second best to Republic of Ireland over both legs, but will make the trip to the World Cup courtesy of William Gallas's goal which secured a 2-1 aggregate win for les Bleus.

All the talk following the second leg at the Stade de France centred on Henry who handled the ball twice, once to keep the ball in and the second to gain control, before teeing up Gallas to score.

Ireland's players have stated they feel cheated but some have said they may have done the same in Henry's position, suggesting it was up to the referee and his assistants to get the right outcome.

And this is clearly the view of Henry, who said: "Yes, there is handball but I am not the referee.

"I'm in the box, there are two defenders in front of me. The ball bounced off my hand, the referee did not see it and I played on.

"It doesn't change anything to the fact that I'm happy we have qualified."

Eurosport

ritchboy:

this chimpanzee faced chipmunk called eastbay is asking me how rooney's dive(cheating) is related to henry's handball(cheating). . .

not only did a Man Utd player(Cantona) commit the most disgraceful act in the history of football, another Man Utd player(Ronaldo) is the greatest diver in the history of the league.

RuuDie:



How low can a man stoop very disgraceful. . . . .

mukina2:

Didnt you see Robbie keane's own? or is it cuz TH's own resulted in a beautiful header by Willie G

oh please.

I saw no hand ball the ball bounced on his hand twice.

The Irish justice minister demanded a rematch today after a blatant handball put France into the World Cup finals. Dermot Ahern lashed out at the governing body Fifa after the Republic of Ireland were beaten by a controversial extra-time goal illegally set up by the France captain, Thierry Henry.


The Barcelona forward confessed to using his arm to control the ball before squaring for his team-mate William Gallas to finish and Ahern called for Fifa to be called to account in the interests of fair play. "They probably won't grant it as we are minnows in world football but let's put them on the spot," the minister said.


"It's the least we owe the thousands of devastated young fans around the country. Otherwise, if that result remains, it reinforces the view that if you cheat you will win."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/nov/19/thierry-henry-handball-ireland-world-cup

mukina2:

oh please.
I saw no hand ball the ball bounced on his hand twice.

RuuDie:

Yeah right. . . .  looked more like he was bouncing the ball with his hand and running.

No worry im go still do am to CIV for WC, dat time truth go comot your mop'!

ritchboy:

this chimpanzee faced chipmunk called eastbay is asking me how rooney's dive(cheating) is related to henry's handball(cheating). . .

not only did a Man Utd player(Cantona) commit the most disgraceful act in the history of football, another Man Utd player(Ronaldo) is the greatest diver in the history of the league.

HNIC:

Really
I find it Bizarre when footie fans keep insinuating that TH!4 is still with ARSENAL
Dude is with Barca
Carry allyour frustration to Barca's door steps.
Afterall when he won the CL in May, haterz were poking fun at Arsenal, that he would never have won it if he remained.
Now that he has used'hand of God' Retards all over the world are linking him to Arsenal !
Like I said earlier
If it had been the other way round,
Would Duff, Keane or O shea run to the referee and tell him to cancel the goal because they handled the ball?
It was a foul and should have been spotted by the referee or the linesmen
and If they didnt , too bad
Afterall, people have been advocating for Video replay for years(including me)
but some people keep saying, this will remove the human element from the game
Let's continue!
Hand ball would soon determine who wins the world cup!

Emperoh:

HNIC
I understand your sentiments but blame your fellow gunners for jumping to defend a former gunner!!
Ruudie posted what TH14 did only for some Gunners to come in and give it a club colouration

TH14 cheated and that was it. . . . its like saying i had to rob First Bank because i need money to go on vacation
How does that sound?
He cheated point blank and thats it. . . . .his comment is even belated and irritating
No justification for immorality or crime.

Eastbay:

Stop arguing for the sake of it.
Everyone knows TH got his career rolling at Arsenal.
All your "ifs" are invalid,since they never happened.
henry is A HYPOCRITE.Consoling dunne after celebrating the goal.

~Sauron~:

ARSENAL. . . . . . .ARSENAL. . . . . .ARSENAL. . .

Wenger taught Henry how to cheat.
France as a nation is a disgrace and i hope Henry gets banned.
If Eduardo can be pillored by the media for CHEATING then Henry should be banned for 5 games after this.

HNIC:

You are just a Clown
remember when you are abusing France, you've got Evra in the French team
and who knows if Obertan does well this season,he may get into the team.
Not forgeting some Frenchies who have served u well in the past
Silvestre, Cantona,Blanc

~Sauron~:

This is not about France. . . . . . .It's about what Wenger taught his French players to do in big games.
Evra and Obertan will never play for Wenger so don't ever put em in the category of Henry the cheat.
If Ireland had done that to qualify at the expense of France, Platini would be calling for a REPLAY.

We all know France are better than the Irish so they didn't need to cheat to book a place in South Africa.

If Almunia wasn't as daft as he looks,ass-wipe,then maybe rooney would look ridiculous going to ground.

you have no basis to compare the two incidents.

If you're still here crying about an incident almost three months gone,then you need a pychiatrist ASAP.

As for your claim on Cantona,you're entitled to your opinion.

You don't have to turn into a rambler just to discredit united as cheaters when Arsenal is around

HNIC:

You and your one sided way of seeing things.
Was Evra not in the team yesterday?
Why didnt he exclude himself from the celebrations that followed when the goal was scored
by walking up to the referee to say it was a handball and tearing his Jersey in front of everyone
or make a statement that he would never play for France again because they cheated!

Hypocrites everywhere!
Like France are  the only team that has ever benefited from the referee/lines men's poor decisions.
Rubbish

~Sauron~:

I doubt Evra saw what Henry did. . . . . .He is too well-mannered to resort to cheating in a big game like that.
Henry on the other hand is a flaming cheat of a player. . . . The thing is, he handballed it twice.
The first time with his wrist as it came to him, and then when he realised it was still going out he did it again with his fingertips.

~Sauron~:

A cheat in football, a serial cheat in MARRIAGE.

~Sauron~:

I hope he dies a painful death for making O'Shea miss his last attempt at going to a world cup.

HNIC:

You are just like the typical British Press
It's the reason why the English team would never win anything in the near future.

Evra
If he didn't see what Henry did, he must be Blind!!!

and did u say well mannered?
The same Evra that challenged Fab4 to a street fight

Who cares what he does in his marriage?

O shea is pure shyte
He had a chance to score a second goal for the Irish
He was left unmarked at the far post and the IDIOT balooned the ball over the bar.
If the nit-wit had scored, it wouldnt have meant a thing if Henry had held the ball and danced makossa with it before putting it in the net
Oshea, Keano and all the other mediocre Irish players are the villain here, not Henry!

RuuDie:

@ HNIC,

this ain't about linesman/ref poor decisions or the Irish not taking their chances - the INFURIATING thing here is TH12 intentionally handling the ball and coming out hours later to say to the world "I carried that ball with my hand, it was not a mistake, it was very much premeditated; so what the Bleep can u do about it "

That is the ANNOYING thing. . . . if it was accidental, then we can all say "s********t happens" & take down as luck/misfortune appropriately.

This definitely discredits the game, the governing body, everything. . . . .  The whole french national team is a DISGRACE as far as i'm concerned; irreespective of wether u play for Bayelsa or Sharks.

this is definitely not something TH12 or any other player should be proud of.

~Sauron~:

What will France win in the enar future?

~Sauron~:


Evra was 50 yards away from the incident. . . . .He couldn't have seen the lying cheating Arrow called Henry.

.

~Sauron~:


I thunk CHARITY begins at HOME, no?
If you cheat at home, you would CHEAT in public and that is the case with your hero.
I would rather have France at the world cup than ROI but not in that manner. . . . . .Yakubu and Martins did not use their hands to take Nigeria to South Africa. . . . .why must HENRY?

RuuDie:

@ HNIC,

there is no excusing TH12 for the shyte he did. . . . . . & putting the blame on the governing bodies for not employing video tech is doing just that.

for Bleep's sake, people can manage to put up with diving, simulation etc but this is so not right. for a man so many people look up as they would a god, this is totally unacceptable. and to think he comes out publicly to gloat about it, is a slap to everybody that is involved with football.