Sat 11th September 2010; 15:00, Emirates Stadium
A thief or just a desperate captain?
ByLast night’s game between Les Bleus and Ireland was one of the most interesting games I’ve watched so far. Not necessarily because of the football, but more to do with the drama that came with it.
It was always going to be a tense match with the stakes raised by the possibility of an away goal win. But without a doubt, the entire population in Ireland is probably plotting what to do to our beloved Thierry Henry. Voodoo and witchcraft? Maybe. Public lynching? An option worth contemplating. There’s no denying that the emotion is raw.
Sometimes, football is a cruel game. The Irish players and their supporters are waking up today to an almighty hangover (or something) just to realise that last night was no dream. They were in fact robbed in front of hundreds of thousands of witnesses.
Unlike Diego Maradona who provoked the ire of an entire English nation 23 years ago (no one has forgotten the hand of God), Henry didn’t have the luxury of redeeming himself by ghosting past the entire Ireland team from one length of the pitch to the other to score a spectacular goal. Maradona set aside his antics with the ‘hand of God’ incident by reminding folks why he is considered by some to be one of the best players that ever lived on this planet. His solo goal was the most spectacular you’ll see anywhere and dwarfed any grief he would have got for his earlier transgressions.
Henry could only assume a low profile for the act of robbery he had just committed that ensured Ireland were kicked into touch.
As usual, the media hacks are suggesting that this single incident will blight his legacy. Sensationalism comes to mind with that claim there, but you can understand why Henry pissed off an entire nation.
But what could he do? Own up? The referee can’t give what he didn’t see – and it’s irrelevant to cite the use of replays on TV. Referees don’t have that luxury in that split second. Besides, hands up (no pun intended) anyone who wouldn’t do what Henry did if they could get away with it.
The Irish would have done it if it got them to South Africa.
“Besides, hands up (no pun intended) anyone who wouldn’t do what Henry did if they could get away with it”
That sums it up really.
I didn’t see much of the game but I did try to get a stream as I knew they were playing extra time. The only bit I got funnily enough was this incident.
The question really is:
Is cheating when it is so blatant any different to any other form of cheating (the shirt pull, the crafty push in the back, claiming the throw in when you know it’s not yours, playing the ball when you know it is out of play, the going down easily etc..etc…etc) ?
The hypocrisy is just amazing.
TH14 has disappointed me but he hasn’t done anything that any other player has done, in one form or another. Why should his reputation be more tarnished than the likes of serial cheats like Gerrard & Shearer or the Anfield crowd, who have been taught the word “HANDBALL” before any other.
My team has won by cheating & certainly lost by it many times. I wish it was not so.
Having seen how it works in rugby there seems to be no reason why we should not follow their example for the very important decisions & timekeeping.
Flint.
There’s always the argument that if you want to win a game, you need to put it beyond the reach of the referee or an act of God.
No one can put their hands up and say they wouldn’t have done it in the same situation. Saying that, TH14 knows he mugged Ireland and he should be ashamed.
They’re now blaming him for an extended recession in Ireland with all the revenue that would have been lost in the hospitality sector as folks visited pubs and restaurants to follow Irelend in the world cup.
I agree with you Darius & I guess TH14 does privately feel ashamed.
We all know how it feels. I will always be convinced that we were cheated by Babel & the ref at Anfield. It happens & will again, as it has going back as long as I can remember.
I hate it because you would rather win or lose by fairs means, which is really normally the case.
Morally a blatant act of cheating is no different to the surreptitious, the result can be the same.
There have been suggestions that TH14 should have told the ref but I have only seen that once. The Fowler penalty incident in a meaningless end of season game, when I pretty sure he was only trying to save Seaman from a false sending off. It still ended in a goal for Liverpool though.
TH14 is not our player anymore but the media will reflect on us so it is the hypocrisy that really does get me. eg Cascarino, a man who admits to dying his hair to stay in football, brands TH14 a fake!!
The surprising thing is that a team with individuals as good & as widespread as France, should be in the position of resorting to this instinctive but sad measure.
What Henry did yesterday is no more of a cheating than all the subtle shirt pulling, push in the back, and other forms of serial fouling that the Irish did themselves. It is most certainly no worse than Rooney did to cheat his way to penalties every so often.
Here was a captain who needed to help his country win. He instinctively used his hand to steady the ball. If the referee had seen it, he would have blown his whistle. He didn’t. The LINESMAN (I will never call them Ass Referee) who should have seen the foul, sees selectively all through the match. He saw quite a few non-exitent offsides, some of which the referee ignored. He failed to see a blatant foul which the referee was extremely lucky to see or it would have put France at a very great disadvantage. If he hadn’t seen it, and Ireland gained from it, would they have put their hands up to say “No Ref, don’t give it”? I think not.
Emotions can be thoughtless and selfish. But we cannot continue to berate others for doing what we ourselves do when it suits us. No.
Arseblogger had the same view as me…by doing what he did, does it has anything to do with Arsenal football club.
He’s a legend who’s done wonderful things at our club. Last night he was playing for France and he is not a Barcelona player. But it’s being said that he had tarnished his entire legendary status including the time with Areenal.
Ummm, why is the incident being linked to Arsenal? Do people really find any kind of excuse to bash our club?
Here’s the man who stopped the world and became the best footballer in the world at Arsenal. Here’s the man who, until last night, is always perceived as a good man.
Now he’s the villian. I can’t recall any fuss against Rooney after the pathetic dive against us in ‘ 04.
Henry is always a gunner, I know that, but the thing he did last night had nothing to do with what he achieved and done at Arsenal.
What he did was not right but the great robbie keane would do it too without a hitch if he knew he could get away with it. Irish people have the right to be pissed off, yes. But this does not make Henry any less of a legend that he is.
And he will always be my hero
I meant he is now a barca player, sorry