Ireland v France - what a disgrace to the sport

[MiracleOfSound]

Did any Escapist soccer fans watch this match tonight?

If not, and you haven't heard what happened, have a look at this:


Thierri Henri blatantly cheated, which was amazingly either ignored or not noticed by any of the officials.

This was also the match winning goal, which secured France's ill-gotten place in the world cup and stopped Ireland getting into the finals.

This is the most blatant rewarding of a cheater since the English got screwed over by Maradona.

Are there any Irish or French escapists with an opinion on this?

And more importantly, is it not about damn time they brought in video replay to the sport so shit like this doesn't happen?

 

[Curtmiester]

I'm Canadian and this still pisses me off. How the hell wasn't this called?!

 

[MiracleOfSound]

I'm Canadian and this still pisses me off. How the hell wasn't this called?!

That's what the entire Irish nation is wondering right now.

There's tears in our pints of Guinness tonight

 

[Pingieking]

I'm Canadian and this still pisses me off. How the hell wasn't this called?!

As another Canadian, it also pisses me off. How was that not called?

 

[Spaghetti]

Absolutley shocking. They really need to get video replays into football and quick. Lots of really dodgy calls that have costed matches could have been avoided.

Reminds me of Scotland v Italy during the Euro 2008 qualifiers. Scotland lost due to the most insane referee's decision in the universe. I'd post the video...but that would be hijacking the thread.

So anyway, OT: It's a total disgrace, there appear to be blind/unqualified refs in European football...especially in Scotland

 

[Vuljatar]

Wow. That's sad.

In the United States, we recently had several similar situations in the Major League Baseball playoffs. Hopefully the controversy surrounding those epic officiating fails and this one lead to both sports adopting instant replays.

Ten years from now, when instant replays are the norm in those sports, we'll look back and wonder why the fuck they weren't always used.

 

[latenightapplepie]

I'm an Australian, and I sincerely hope France doesn't go on to win the World Cup.

 

[Jinjiro]

The beautiful game's ugly side rears it's head more and more the further we get into this century, and this is just an insult to the hard-working Irish team, and to the sport. The obvious reflections of the goal by one Diego Maradona are there for all to see, however unlike the Argentine, Henry will not be scoring an all-time great any time soon, with a frankly sub-par French team at his back. I hope they suffer the guilt of their victory all the way into the finals and lose miserably. My condolences to the Irish team and fans, you were robbed.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Absolutley shocking. They really need to get video replays into football and quick. Lots of really dodgy calls that have costed matches could have been avoided.

Reminds me of Scotland v Italy during the Euro 2008 qualifiers. Scotland lost due to the most insane referee's decision in the universe. I'd post the video...but that would be hijacking the thread.

So anyway, OT: It's a total disgrace, there appear to be blind/unqualified refs in European football...especially in Scotland

Post the vid if you like dude, as it would be on topic due to being another example of the need for video replay.

I'd be interested to see it too.

I bet Henry will sleep like a fuckin baby tonight too.

 

[Spaghetti]

Post the vid if you like dude, as it would be on topic due to being another example of the need for video replay.

I'd be interested to see it too.

I bet Henry will sleep like a fuckin baby tonight too.

There you go.

*grumble* qualified referee my arse *grumble* linesman's blind...Scotland would have qualified if they had picked up a draw as well.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Post the vid if you like dude, as it would be on topic due to being another example of the need for video replay.

I'd be interested to see it too.

I bet Henry will sleep like a fuckin baby tonight too.

There you go.

*grumble* qualified referee my arse *grumble* linesman's blind...Scotland would have qualified if they had picked up a draw as well.

Jaysus... that was fairly blatant. You Scots get the shitty end of the stick as much as we do! OH well. At least William Wallace gave us both some good times.

 

[pigeon_of_doom]

Don't forget Henry faked a head injury to win the free-kick that gave France the lead against Spain in the last World Cup. I don't want video replays in the game (I like controversy of human error too much) but at least the addition of another official to spot transgressions such as these would be helpful?

Absolutely gutted for the Irish. Matched France all the way, possibly should have taken the lead before in normal time, but to have all their hard work undone like that. France won't add much to the tournament imo, at least not under Domenech's command, would have much rather seen Ireland in there.

 

[Captain Pancake]

That's such a fix. They probably wanted france to win.

 

[David_G]

Wow, I lost a lot of respect for Henry, watching this video. You wouldn't expect that from a first class football player.

 

[Goldeneye1989]

admitedly, the Goalie should have attempted to stop the handballed pass or the header... play the wistle, however yeah bullshit on chips

 

[oliveira8]

They really need to get change the rules, many other sports have done it, but football has yet to change. Absolute disgrace.

Anyone who argues against it is a complete twat, I'd rather they spent a 1 or 2 minutes checking footage than 1 or 2 minutes arguing with the ref.

Who knows, maybe karma will come back and bite Henry with a career ending injury in the world cup.

Actually the rules changed. Alot over the years. This is not a rule problem. This is a 4 blind/bought refeeres.

Also didn't FIFA started to use 2 extra refeeres behind the goal structure to prevent this stuff happening? Or are they just using that crap for the UEFA cup?