French cheats!

Can't believe that the french national footy team have cheated their way to the world cup, by playing Thierry Henry - someone who is blatantly Italian.

sick.

i used to respect henry a lot, not anymore... what a cheating bastard. i hope he gets his legs broken playing for bace, he doesn't deserve to go to the world cup... the whole french team don't, they were terrible.

benzema not playing a minute of the tie? will be shocked if domenech is in charge in s. africa.

what a f$$&*^£^%king joke... twice he handled the ball... TWICE!

if there was ever a match that reinforced the need for replays in football that was it... what a farce. tennis, american football, rugby, cricket you name it they use some form of technology to decide seriously dodgy plays.

AGHH!!!!

Was there ever any doubt that the French were going to go through, no matter what it took to get them there? Any doubt at all? Show of hands: when the draw was Ireland/France, who thought Ireland had any chance? Anyone?

Originally posted by Fleabitten
Was there ever any doubt that the French were going to go through, no matter what it took to get them there? Any doubt at all? Show of hands: when the draw was Ireland/France, who thought Ireland had any chance? Anyone?

yes, france are complete bollocks. over the two games, ireland were the better team... without question. we just never took our chances but still we were cheated.

Originally posted by trev33
yes, france are complete bollocks. over the two games, ireland were the better team... without question. we just never took our chances but still we were cheated.

Then you are far less cynical than I, my friend. My thinking Ireland had no chance has nothing to do with the comparative quality of the teams. As soon as the 'seeded pot' idea was announced, I put my money squarely on France and Portugal going through, regardless of who they drew. To Portugal's credit, they at least were the better side in their tie.

Originally posted by Fleabitten
Then you are far less cynical than I, my friend. My thinking Ireland had no chance has nothing to do with the comparative quality of the teams. As soon as the 'seeded pot' idea was announced, I put my money squarely on France and Portugal going through, regardless of who they drew. To Portugal's credit, they at least were the better side in their tie.

russia top 15 in world rankings, semis of the euros last year, out. beaten by slovenia, not even in the euros a couple of years ago who finished second in one of the weakest groups and ranked forty something in the world rankings. i didn't like the fact that it was a seeded draw but the 'top 4' team weren't guaranteed a place in the finals, which was shown tonight.

i watched the first game in russia and slovenia deserve their place in the finals. france do not, since the 2006 world cup final they have been pants.

Originally posted by trev33
russia top 15 in world rankings, semis of the euros last year, out. beaten by slovenia, not even in the euros a couple of years ago who finished second in one of the weakest groups and ranked forty something in the world rankings. i didn't like the fact that it was a seeded draw but the 'top 4' team weren't guaranteed a place in the finals, which was shown to ...[text shortened]... eir place in the finals. france do not, since the 2006 world cup final they have been pants.

I didn't say anything about the 'Top 4' being guaranteed places. I said I put my money on Portugal and France. Barring an utter and unlikely implosion by either team, there was no way they were going to be eliminated. Again, call me cynical, but I've come to find that when it comes to FIFA, cynicism can be profitable.

Originally posted by trev33
sick.

i used to respect henry a lot, not anymore... what a cheating bastard. i hope he gets his legs broken playing for bace, he doesn't deserve to go to the world cup... the whole french team don't, they were terrible.

benzema not playing a minute of the tie? will be shocked if domenech is in charge in s. africa.

what a f$$&*^£^%king joke... twice ...[text shortened]... ket you name it they use some form of technology to decide seriously dodgy plays.

AGHH!!!!

I didn't see the match, only the highlight footage. It was an obvious handling of the ball, but
can Henry really be blamed? It was worth a try to sneak one past the officials, right? He
probably expected it would be whistled, and there was nothing to lose by giving it a go as the
ball was flying helplessly and peacefully past the post. Ok, maybe he lost some honor and
respect, but don't most athletes push the boundaries of every rule in search of an advantage
to win? We see this in football all the time re diving. Why is it his fault the officials missed the
call? If it was called he probably would have had a smile on his face "well, it was worth a try
wink wink."

The horror and tragedy is that it was a blatant error by the officials!!! Replay? Yes, please.

I wonder, has there ever been an instance in any sport where the winning opponent said "You
know what? The refs missed a huge call so I'm going to give back the win. I can't accept
victory if I didn't earn it the way it should be earned."

Originally posted by Traveling Again
I didn't see the match, only the highlight footage. It was an obvious handling of the ball, but
can Henry really be blamed? It was worth a try to sneak one past the officials, right? He
probably expected it would be whistled, and there was nothing to lose by giving it a go as the
ball was flying helplessly and peacefully past the post. Ok, ...[text shortened]... win. I can't accept
victory if I didn't earn it the way it should be earned."

not in the same league but when west ham played (someone) a few years back the goalkeeper of the other team (think it was the keeper) was lying on the ground injured but the ref was playing on, the ball was crossed into the box and di canio instead of shooting grabbed the ball with his hands and got the ref to stop play. sometimes when the ball has been kicked out of play because of an injury the ball ends up in the back of the net in giving the ball back... can't remember who was playing last season but it was in the lower leagues of english football, anyway the team who scored let the other team score to even things up. i've seen that happen a couple of times.

so fair play does happen. henry knew what he was doing, he is a cheat and i hope he gets a suspension for this. if the ref sees it it's a sending off... so no, no smiles from henry.

but yes, i do blame the ref and linesman (especially the linesman), if i was the ref i would've asked henry if he handled it, he would've said no (probably, maybe) and i would've reported it.

there's smart cheating (diving) and then there's just cheating (this) if france had of got a penalty from the anelka's dive i wouldn't be half as pissed off as i am right now.

whatever way you want to look at it (cheat or mistake from the officials) this has cost the FAI millions not to mention the irish fans that will now miss out, easily the best fans in the world.

even if there was an official behind the goal like there is in the europe league now it would be better than nothing and might have seen the hand ball. but some form of replays please, this has tainted the world cup for me. what the hell am i supposed to do if england play france? jesus, it'll be worse than watching the phillies and the yankees play in the world series.

sick.

Originally posted by Fleabitten
Was there ever any doubt that the French were going to go through, no matter what it took to get them there? Any doubt at all? Show of hands: when the draw was Ireland/France, who thought Ireland had any chance? Anyone?

NEVER underestimate Ireland.

Also, the French haven't been playing well at all.

Tonight's match was a blight on the face of football.

Originally posted by trev33
not in the same league but when west ham played (someone) a few years back the goalkeeper of the other team (think it was the keeper) was lying on the ground injured but the ref was playing on, the ball was crossed into the box and di canio instead of shooting grabbed the ball with his hands and got the ref to stop play. sometimes when the ball has been kicke ...[text shortened]... worse than watching the phillies and the yankees play in the world series.

sick.

I'm not aware -- if it's an intentional handball then they're generally sent off?

Also, I guess I'm not clear about the nuance between a "cheating" play and an "illegal" one in
football. I saw this play as an illegal touch that should have been called. So the "cheating"
accusations seem severe to me - like saying a basketball player is cheating for traveling. But this
sentiment seems widespread - I'm interested to understand why.

Are there instances when the ref will ask a player if he handled it and the player will admit yes
and a call will be made accordingly?

Originally posted by Traveling Again
I'm not aware -- if it's an intentional handball then they're generally sent off?

Also, I guess I'm not clear about the nuance between a "cheating" play and an "illegal" one in
football. I saw this play as an illegal touch that should have been called. So the "cheating"
accusations seem severe to me - like saying a basketball player is che ...[text shortened]... if he handled it and the player will admit yes
and a call will be made accordingly?

Are there instances when the ref will ask a player if he handled it and the player will admit yes and a call will be made accordingly?

no, that's me being optimistic. i don't see why not though, would be interesting to see what they (the player) would say considering all of the cameras around the field.

tbh i would see most refs giving a yellow for it.

Originally posted by trev33
sick.

i used to respect henry a lot, not anymore... what a cheating bastard. i hope he gets his legs broken playing for bace, he doesn't deserve to go to the world cup... the whole french team don't, they were terrible.

benzema not playing a minute of the tie? will be shocked if domenech is in charge in s. africa.

what a f$$&*^£^%king joke... twice ...[text shortened]... ket you name it they use some form of technology to decide seriously dodgy plays.

AGHH!!!!

feel your pain Trev dude! :'(

Originally posted by hopscotch
NEVER underestimate Ireland.

Also, the French haven't been playing well at all.

Tonight's match was a blight on the face of football.

Again, my sentiment has/had absolutely nothing to do with who is the better team. Direct from the FIFA website:

France 1-1 Republic of Ireland (first leg 1-0)
Goals: William Gallas 103 (France); Robbie Keane 32 (Republic of Ireland)

The story of the game
Hosts France were kept completely quiet in the first half by an Ireland team burning with passion, conviction and the desire to battle for every ball. Robbie Keane’s strike not long after the half-hour mark was just reward for the efforts the visitors had put in and it took heroics from France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to limit the damage to one goal. Les Bleus made themselves a little more visible after the break but remained under pressure from Irish assaults, meaning the tie had to be resolved in extra-time, during which William Gallas equalised to send his team through to their fourth consecutive finals.

The key moment
After 180 minutes of a hard-fought contest, the fate of both teams came down to two dramatic periods of extra-time. The match, and the tie, remained in the balance until the very last second, and when the final whistle was blown the disappointed Irish could hold their heads up high.

The man of the match
France have long been looking for a successor to Fabien Barthez and they have found the perfect candidate in Hugo Lloris. In this game, as in the opening leg, the Lyon No1 bolstered his burgeoning reputation with a string of top-class saves.

No mention of a handball or the controversy that is surrounding it. Wonder why?

Edit: Of course, I don't wonder why. As I mentioned in another thread, FIFA is interested in the spectacle, not the sport. Like it or not, there was no way France or Portugal were going to be absent from South Africa come next summer.

Originally posted by Fleabitten
Of course, I don't wonder why. As I mentioned in another thread, FIFA is interested in the spectacle, not the sport. Like it or not, there was no way France or Portugal were going to be absent from South Africa come next summer.

i won't deny that the fact that fifa wanted france and portugal in the world cup.. more money for them. but fifa wasn't officiating that match, ireland could've scored 5 or 6 over the two legs... i supposed fifa was the reason they didn't? france had a goal disallowed for being just offside and they also had a strong looking penalty shout turned down... it was a dive but still refs have given them, tbh it looked like a pen live. so i guess the ref never got the fifa message then duh?

robbie keane had a good chance to win it in the 90th min, i guess if if he had of scored fifa would've rang up the ref and got him to disallow it for something?

fifa had no say over that match, done, zero, zip, nada. france are a poor team who are lucky to be in the world cup and that's it.

how much money do you think fifa would get if china were in the world cup? why didn't they qualify.. why wasn't england in the euros last year? holland in 2002, were they in the world cup? russia this year, where are they? you didn't answer me over that one.

just because fifa wanted france and portugal in the world cup didn't mean they were guaranteed a place there.