Formerly a man who could do no wrong Theirry Henry descended to the depths of Maradona last night when he cheated, with a handball, to get the French through to the world cup finals at the expense of ireland. Not a slightly contoversial decision but full on cheating, which he admitted after and does not create an example for the younger generation to follow.

Back luck the Irish.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...cle6922540.ece

One of my favourite arsenal players. Maybe age has got to him if he has to resort to these kind of behaviour. Better to retire than damage his legacy.

Bad luck to irish indeed.

Not his first time. There was a match during the World Cup 2006 where he dived to win a free kick, from which France scored.

I don't see how he is a cheat if it was an accidental handball which he even admitted to after the match. Had the ref asked him, and he denied it, then that would have been cheating.

i watched it on Youtube.. it does not seem like an accidental handball
he deliberately moves his hand and does that slyly

Accident? He touched it twice. Anyway a lot of players would do it if they think they can get away with it. I blame the referees and especially Fifa's refusal to do anything about it (no video replays, no strict post-match punishments, etc.)

Accidental? He raised his hand to stop it going out, then flicked it across to Gallas for the goal. The referee was blindsided so couldn't see it, but the linesman should have flagged. Henry also admitted he'd handled it, and said it was up to the ref to make the decision.
Gutted for the boys in green, they outplayed les bleus on the night and had by far the better chances. Converting one of them would have made the handball issue redundant, but cheating is cheating in my book.

Exactly, the Fifa allowed the goal, a handy one at that. Henry admitted he touched it, what else can he do?

He could have not handballed it in the first place. An approach of not cheating rather than cheating and seeing if he got away with it would have been better.

Not really. The referee consulted with the linesman and also Henry and the goal was allowed. It was after the game when Henry admitted he made a deliberate handball.
They may have qualified now but there is a cloud of shame hanging over it!

Who had the final decision?

I thought Henry's excuse was that the referee didn't ask him.

The ref. It is not the result that is unfair it is the deliberate act of cheating. If you think that cheating but getting away with it is ok, then perhaps post a word of advice on the other thread about the poor woman who's husband has been cheating but hasn't got away with it by the look of it.

THere is no condoning this kind of cheating, ref or no ref, it was a deliberate, calculated act of dishonesty that means the whole nation will not be able to support their team at the world cup.

Perhaps if I put a smiley face on the end it'll all seem like harmless fun, which is what people seem to do nowadays.

The referee......but there is no point in anyone saying Henry admitted his mistake, what else can he do.
He could have admitted it at the time. His apology is worthless as we're still out of the world cup.

In a poll in Le Monde this morning, 88.9% agreed that France did not deserve to go through.

And Castro, it's quite obvious that it was no accident.

Anyway, there were 2 French men off side just before this incident. That wasn't called either.

It's a disgrace. And I've noticed that my french colleagues are studiously avoiding me this morning too.

video replay would be useless (slow, affect the game play) but the extra goal-line officials as in the Europa League would have resulted in this blatant and deliberate handball being seen.

Its so deliberate.. very harsh on Ireland

All I am saying is the ref allowed it (like everyone else), it's cruel justice. And suggesting I advise someone that posts on the internet about a cheating husband when all I have is one side of the story... are you kidding?

The goal was unfortunately allowed, but there is nothing that can be done other than hope that the FIFA becomes interested in the use of todays technology.

Re: smiley's... chill dude, it's only the internet.

Sure, I know. Ireland is out, but "we" are is still in.

Many sports already use it such as Baseball, cricket, basketball, some soccer, rugby etc.
It would help stop missed acts of cheating, diving etc. Never good to see any sportsman cheat to gain a win or advantage. But Footballers have the "dive" down to an art.