hmmmmmmmmm wrote:
interested-observer wrote:Err... officially the match goes down in history as an Irish win as the regulation match ended at 90 minutes, and Ireland were leading at that stage.
Also, while the first handball was probably not deliberate, the second one, where Henry hooked the ball into play again was CLEARLY on purpose.
hahaha dude youre making stuff up...
stoppage time and overtime are parts of soccer and in not possible scenario would the game go down in history as an irish win
i understand being irate about the handball but dont make yourself look like an idiot
I hate to break it to you, but the match was an Irish victory. Without an Irish victory then France would have gone on to the WC without incident.
France won the first leg of the playoff 1-0, Ireland won the 2nd 1-0, therefore forcing an overtime due to the aggregate being tied (as well as away goals). As was the original statement, that Ireland could have beaten any team (not that I agree with the sentiment), it is not correct to say Ireland could not have beaten France in a match yesterday because they did defeat them forcing the OT period.
And I say this with zero support of Ireland as a soccer club. The handball was obvious - apparently not to the referees. To vilify Henry over this is just terrible. The handball occurred and the referees missed it - place the blame on them. At any other point in a game to you expect a player to approach a referee and tell them they missed a call and they should call that on them? If a ball is knocked out by Team A, yet they receive the ball is Team A expected to just give it back? How about a little closer to this Henry scenario - if the ball is played over the end line and a player puts it across just seconds after it crosses the line but it isn't called and a game winning goal is scored from that cross, does the player go to the referee and tell him that the ball was over the line?
Your responses may be something along the lines of "this was much more obvious" and I agree - to us it definitely was, but to a referee apparently not. And even still, if it was obvious to them, or should have been, it is still on the referee and not Henry.
And to the guy who says he plays 3 or 4 times a week and then went on some elitist trip out calling the guy a clown - get over yourself. Just because you step on a pitch a few times a week doesn't mean you are a soccer genius. Get off your high horse and have a discussion. I know quite a few guys who go out and play plenty without knowing the intricacies of soccer, just enough to kick the ball from point A to point B with sufficient accuracy. I also know plenty of hobby runners who run 100 mile weeks to get ready for their marathon but have never sniffed a real, competitive race. Do they know the intricacies about racing, about tucking in here, making a move there, surging to break a competitor? No.
If you were an unbiased observer who has ever played for something in soccer before then you'd understand that this handball could have been an accident and it could have been on purpose - but you'd be smart enough to understand that you can't make the all by watching a replay. Even if it were on purpose, he stuck his hand out to touch the ball, why vilify the guy? Everybody on the soccer pitch tries something against the rules a time or two to try and get an advantage - to try and get away with it. It is the referee's job to manage the game and call it as he sees it. If the Irish have an issue, whether Henry did it intentionally or not, it should be with the referees.