http://www.sportsrubbish.com/2009/11/18/...m-gallas-video/




This one is going down in history right next to Maradona's "Hand of God".

So I assume there is no replay challenges in football then huh? That sucks. It would be incredible if players (in any sport) stepped forward and admitted to cheating to correct a wrong..

What sickens me most over all this is that you could bet your house that if it happened the other way round, and France were on the receiving end of such an injustice, FIFA would be forcing a replay.

Simple fact of the matter is that the powers that be want the 'big' teams in next summer's World Cup, hence the very sudden decision to seed teams for the play offs when it became a possibility that France, Portugal (and Germany at one stage) may end up playing each other.

I feel truly sorry for the Irish.

Has there ever been a replay of a FIFA qualifying or championship match that has been replayed because of a foul being missed? I think you'd be hard pressed to find such an example in mordern times.

It is an acknowledged fact of football that the ref doesn't manage to catch everything. There has been suggestions of video ref-ing, but so far it's not been adapted yet or tested out.

there would be (and won't be soon) any replay for such things, and for a simple reason...

FIFA doesn't want video assistance for referees, and deciding a reeplay would mean canceling referees decision (even if it was unfair) based on video... which they don't want.

when FIFA finally gets out of 19th century, then, probably, such blatant cheats will probably become things of the past.

Fifa are saying that it can't be replayed because the referee made a mistake on a question of fact. If he'd applied the laws wrongly then it could possibly be replayed, but as he made a factual error then it stands.

Having said that, I actually have a feeling something will be done about this. I know FIFA are saying no, but I just get the impression this won't just go away. The play offs were rigged with the late decision to seed (although sure, even if there had been no seeding Ireland may have been drawn against France or Portugal, or even lost against Bosnia), and now this gets the French through, when it's blatantly obvious FIFA wanted them there. The Irish are generally well liked throughout Europe, and I think there's a LOT of sympathy for them. I wouldn't be surprised if FIFA announce that the French have agreed as a gesture of goodwill and in the name of sportsmanship to replay the match again. Would be awesome if they'd give Ireland a wildcard to the finals (thus ruling out any chance of France going out in a replay), but that would mess up one group in the finals so it's very unlikely.

We'll see.

Oh, and it's about time we had a single Irish team for the whole island, like they do in rugby. but that's a whole other story;)

Seems as if the FIFA and FIA for Formula 1 racing being based in France would open up some bias for sure.

Magnifique!

Not quite the hand of god...but close!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_of_God_goal#Hand_of_God

Vid no longer works in the OP

Here is a Gif

http://i48.tinypic.com/24exhy8.gif

Nate

The problem with agreeing to replay the game is that it sets a precedence. Despite this being an exceptional situation in an extremely important game, there'll start to be demands for games being replayed because a goal was scored from an incorrectly awarded corner, etc. Also, if this had been a World Cup semi-final, how do you schedule a replay given the logistics involved?

It's a similar situation with using video replays. What happens if a French player had committed a similar offence in the centre circle, and the goal had been scored twenty seconds later?

Anyone unfamiliar with The Guardian's Football Weekly podcast, now would be a very good time to get yourself acquainted.

You have to love some of the hack headlines though

The Hand of Frog

and

Oui were Robbed!

Brun - Well they can solve the problem by instituting rules for replay use that make it a useful tool. Issue the coaches of each team a challenge flag similar to the NFL - perhaps to be used once per match, or perhaps only to be used on goal review situations. I'm not that familiar with the rules of football (European) so I don't know what kind of penalty could be assessed for throwing a challenge flag and not winning the challenge (the referee's call standing). Certainly on such a big deal as this though - something should be done. You could tell from the reaction of the Irish players that the foul was clearly evident..

Good articles at the link Brun! I liked this guy's assessment:

"Thierry Henry had about five seconds in which to decide to join the immortals. While William Gallas wheeled away from the point-blank header which gave France the lead over the Republic of Ireland during extra time in their World Cup play-off last night, Henry's reaction could have gone one of two ways.

In the act of controlling the ball before providing Gallas with a perfect cross, France's captain had handled it. Not once, but twice. The first time might have been almost inadvertent, a pardonable reflex action as it was about to go out of play. The second, in which he scooped the ball with his left hand, redirecting it to drop nicely on to his right foot, was clearly intentional.

Even there, it could be argued that an element of reflex was involved. But in the few seconds that followed, Henry had two options. He could pretend that he had not broken the most basic law of outfield play. Or he could take the opportunity to neutralise the effect of his reflexes. To erase an error. To right a wrong. To be a man.
....
We all know which way Henry decided to go. With a broad, exultant beam on his face, he raced away from the scene of the crime to join Gallas and their team-mates in celebration of a goal that all knew was likely to be decisive in the battle for a place in next summer's World Cup finals.

For this was no ordinary piece of cheating. National pride and tens of millions of euros were at stake. So much greater, then, would have been the admiration of a decision to own up. Instead Henry chose to go down a path which exposed not just his own human frailty but the paranoid fear of failure running through a French squad (and their manager) haunted by comparisons with the glories of the recent past.

Henry was a hopeless captain at Arsenal and he is a hopeless captain of France. On Wednesday he did not have the gumption to say, "OK, that wasn't a goal" – an admission on which the referee would have been obliged to act – "but we'll use the remaining quarter of an hour's play to demonstrate that we are better than the Irish and more deserving of a place in the final 32 in South Africa next year."

And, being Henry, he reacted to the final whistle not by celebrating with his team- mates but by making a show of going over and sitting down on the turf to commiserate with the dejected Richard Dunne, the most heroic of Irish players. He told Dunne that the Irish had deserved to win, and admitted that he had handled the ball. "But," he added, "I am not the referee."

No, mon brave, but you are the captain of France, the country that gave us the World Cup, and here you had the chance to show us what sport can mean – or, at least, what we tell our children it means.

To rank the incident in Paris alongside Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" in 1986 is misleading. That was a street kid's instinct, acclaimed by his compatriots as revenge for Antonio Rattín and the Malvinas. Henry may come from Les Ulis, a quartier difficile outside Paris, but he is a sophisticated man, and a much decorated one. A chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur should have done better – by his opponents, by himself, and by the game."

"Oui were Robbed!"

Haha!! love it!

I'm guessing TH may be penalized and not allow to play 2 or 3 matches.
I've seen this event happen in Bundesliga and La Liga a few times. In those cases they would not replay the match but suspend the player for several matches.

"To rank the incident in Paris alongside Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" in 1986 is misleading. That was a street kid's instinct, acclaimed by his compatriots as revenge for Antonio Rattín and the Malvinas. Henry may come from Les Ulis, a quartier difficile outside Paris, but he is a sophisticated man, and a much decorated one. A chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur should have done better – by his opponents, by himself, and by the game." "

haha what rubbish!

You can take the man out of the ghetto, but you can't take the ghetto out of the man. 'Nuff said.

I don't

Well, I'm no football expert..but the whole mystery of the "Hand of God" stuff was that it wasn't really clearly caught on film correct? There was a lot of supposition about it. The Henry incident was clear in all it's high-def glory..and he even shrugs and admits it. The difference between the two incidents is the same and different I guess..

In the UEFA games in the Europa League and Champions League there are two new linesman at the end of the field next to the goal on each side precisely to deal with issues like this. FIFA should adopt the same system in the upcoming World Cup.

This is from Wikipedia, found it earlier today when I looked up the reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hand_of_God_goal.jpg

LOL..funny picture..in that the defender is apparently reaching for the ball with his own "Hand of God"..

Well, that would be the goalkeeper...

Yeah, 'cos you're an idiot.

take it easy fran...

Hehe, that pic looks like it could be from a handball game

Sadly, there's no sportsmanship left in sports these days I previously used to like the French national team. Especially when Zidane was still playing. This is just sad.

I feel sorry for the Irish. They've actually been cheated twice, once by Thierry Henry, and once by FIFA's outrageous last minute changing of the rules by suddenly deciding to seed the 'big teams'

When it comes to dubious handball decisions the luck of the Irish seem to desert them. They failed to qualify for Euro 92 thanks to England getting a 1:0 win over Turkey, courtesy of Dennis Wise punching the ball in to the back of the net. They also missed out on the 1982 World cup after France scored a penalty against them, a penalty given when Kevin Moran's perfectly good headed clearance was incorrectly ruled as a handball.

These bad decisions have always been a part of football, and probably always will. We might lessen these sort of injustices if the newly introduced 'goal line referees' turn out to be a success and are adopted, but they won't be eliminated entirely.

I see Henry has said a replay would be the fairest solution, and the FAI are encouraging other smaller nations to lodge complaints.

I still don't know, I think something is going to give. If FIFA does nothing, then politically there's going to be a huge backlash against those in charge, and they won't want that. I wonder if they'll quietly "encourage" the French FA to ask for a replay, and say that video evidence will be introduced from next season and between now and then no further appeals will be allowed etc.

Whether Ireland get a replay or not, I do think this will have a long lasting effect on the rules - and rightly so.

With any luck, even if it doesn't affect the Irish team now, it'll set a precedent that leads to other methods to verify the refs decisions; if Hawkeye can do that in cricket, I don't see why the same can't happen in football. The technology is there. The only thing left is the will to do it.

I guess I've been called worse.. Sorry, didn't realize that was a goalie..

It just seems to me that even though missed calls have always been a part of the game that a limited use of replay would be encouraged. Particularly when probably tens of millions of dollars (or Euros or whatever) are riding on whether a particular team gets to the World Cup or not. I mean..that goal had huge financial repercussions across the globe. Sportsmanship not withstanding..

I'm sorry for Ireland, but honestly, but they had several chances to score and failed. And who knows, if Henry hadn't touched the ball with his hand, he might still have scored.

If you open the can of worms and allow replays for every foul, hands, pushing, holding, offside, yadda yadda yadda that a ref misses, you'll never get a match finished. Refs *do* make mistakes. They are only human after all, and don't have 360 degree vision that sees through players. It's all part of what football is. I don't want us to become a mockery of the sport like American Football, where they spend more time challenging calls and watching video replays, than actually playing the damn game.

Aww. come on, son. You've done your fair share of mocking the English over the years. What goes around. . . . .

Hmm, Zidane wasn't exactly a class act...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF4iWIE77Ts

Very very few footballers of today have integrity and class.

It won't, why would it? This is far from the first time that something like this has happened. The football equivalent of Hawkeye has laready been totally ruled out.

Quite rightly so. Hawkeye is totally unsuitable for a free-flowing game such as Football.

I play soccer in a huff & puff league where the rules are a little more relaxed for us old guys. That hand ball would have been called every freeking time and the offender would usually have the dignity to call it on themselves.

Win at all costs, right? It's a hollow victory that everyone knows they do not deserve.

Anyone remembers the handball by Abel Xavier in the France V Portugal match in the Euro2000?

Portugal scored first and France managed to equalize forcing the game into overtime, then when everyone believed the game was going into penalty kicks this happens:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RXzBkRXhm4#t=1m20s

Many asked: If it was the other way around would the referee sanction the foul?

I guess today we know the answer.

Ireland like other teams have benefited in the past from inaccurate decisions, so I think they should act with some dignity and just move on.

This is why all sports are crap! If this game was played right, there'd only be one rule: YOU HAVE TO GET THE BALL INTO THE OPPOSING TEAM'S GOAL!

No need for refs. Once everyone understands the one rule, let 'er rip! That'll sort the men from the boys! Imagine the carnage on the path to the World Cup!

And, it would make sports people worthy of their salaries, unlike now, when soldiers are paid sh*t while prima donna sports dandies rake it in!

Cheers!

Rick...

I'm not much into watching sports matches (usually I would prefer I'm the one in the match lol). What I don't understand is why, in other issues (the gender issue, drugs used etc.) the option of removing the medal from the player is always on the table when fair play is compromised? (the issue might extend years back)

But here, there's an opportunity to settle it "in a better manner (i.e. rematch)" because it happened quite recently. I don't understand this...

(my italics). That's not an argument, the same is true for the French - they could've scored with the foot or head, that is.

I don't think there should be a replay, but I can imagine a situation where there is a timeout until 3 minutes after the goal wherein the fourth official checks the available footage. He can then notify the referee of the validity of the goal. This will stop the game for a few minutes, but I think it's the best solution.

Article on how it is viewed in France:

BBC