• Outcome inevitable after Keane spurns his gift
• Poll: Was Thierry Henry wrong to let France’s winning goal stand?
• Blog: France destined for greatness as Henry hands them victory

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If I were french, I wouldn´t like be in South Africa 2010 in that way. And if I were Henry, I would be the first one to ask for another match with Ireland.

- Jesd66, Madrid, Spain

As much as I'm annoyed about the handball and the loss to the french its a little embarrassing that the PM and justice minister are calling for a replay. Stick to what your good at (although thats in question)... Not all of us Irish are fools like our leaders!!
Anyway good luck to anyone playing france in the world cup.. they get to use there hands so its gonna be a tough one... I'm personally supporting England and Spain...As long as the english commentators don't go over the top and claim England have won the world cup before its played... we Irish wanna support the english its just hard cos your commentators and some media are idiots and think its a god given right you should win the cup... anyway nuff said... you modest english men and women my moneys on you to win...(just don't say it too loud) .... viva le england..!

- Paul, Dublin Ireland

I'm French.
I watched the game yesterday night, and there are no doubts, Irish team was way better than us that night !!

I really would like a new game between our two countries.

But please, don't blame Henry like I could see in some (aggressive) feedbacks.
I think every footballers would have done the same (continue to play even if there has been a hand).

If someone must be blamed, it's the referee. if something must be blamed, it's the refereeing system.

- Kksqueen, nice. france

Well done Henry, it's just not cricket!

- Dave, London

Firstly commiserations to Ireland as they always bring something special to all the major tournaments and it`s obviously tough to go out in this way.
Unfortunately in sport as in life things aren`t always fair but you just have accept it and move on.
As far as Thierry Henry is concerned he is no more or less of a cheat than any other player and his handling of the ball was a desperate attempt to control the ball which was instinctive could not be pre-meditated.He probably expected the whistle to blow for handball but the officals didn`t pick it up.
Maybe if Mr Platini had placed his extra assistants behind the goals things would have been different but
with so much at stake, NOW is the time to bring video technoligy into football to end all the arguments once and for all.

- Steve Carter, Bromley

I actually feel sorry for Henry in a way. With this one sad little act, albeit accidental, he will now always be cast as something of a joke. A man who lacks integrity. The truth is, he has actually been in the past one of the few role models in this tardy little little sport. I would urge football fans to remember him for all the positive things he has done in the past. He should still take the shame though and God knows that holidaying in Dublin should probably be a thing of the past from here on in.

- Mick, Richmond, UK

Irish fans caused no problems post match unlike the Algerian supporters who trashed the Champs Elysees.

- Susie, Paris

There's no doubt that Ireland were hard done by and over the two legs were probably the better team. I was in Dublin last week and supported them as I did last night in London-- the French despite having the cream of players from European leagues were very poor and Henry has really gone down in my estimation. But all this would have been academic had Ireland taken their chances. Duff had a clear shot on goal and should have done better and Keane could not resist taking another touch when he was past the defender and had the goal at his mercy-- its at moments like this games are won & lost. Keane kept on doing stupid flicks and dummies even after his miss and that's what really infuriated me-- contrast him with Doyle who never stopped chasing, harrying and playing it simple. I felt most for him, Lawrence and the two centre backs-- they gave their all in vain.As for Platini & Blatter don't even get me started !!!

- Ashwin, london

At the start of this season didn't UEFA change the preliminary rounds of the Champions League to increase the chances of teams from smaller countries progressing to the group stages?

In light of that it looks rather inconsistent (suspicious?) that FIFA decided to introduce seedings at the last minute for these playoffs - nothing to do with the fact that France, Portugul and, until the latter stages of qualification, Germany were clearly going to have to rely upon the playoffs.

- I Am The Sid, Reading

If fifa want to have any credibility why don't they ban henri from the finals and issue a statement that cheating will not be tolerated. What do you think the chances of that happening?

By the way, before the incident I thought the ref was excellent.

- Gary, london

We were robbed but our fans did not let us down, could not see any reports of rioting in Paris last night!

- Cormac, whitstable

gunners for life i totally agree with you and how can they even think about replying the game, ok so the ref missed something (just like chelsea vs Barcelona we never got a rpely) but i feel France deserved to go through, if Ireland want to bang on about all what went wrong in the game, then start digging at R.Keane for all his misses and the bad defending that led to the goal?? chin up Ireland theres always the Euros you may qualify for. T.Henry has done nothing wrong only something any player would do for their country and he got lucky and got away with it.

- Chelsea Headhunter, England

Of course the Irish president would call for a re-play just like he did for the European Treaty, play and play again until I like the result, vote and vote again until I get the result.

- Edward, ealing

I am extremely proud to be an Irishman, and what happened last night was a travesty, an extreme miscarriage of justice, a disgrace to the French people and their nation and possibly even a conspiracy theory.

We were by far the superior team over 210 minutes.

All our hope lies on our Justice Minister, Dermot Ahern's, vain appeal to FIFA for a replay that Platini and his Frog cronies will not grant us...

- Timothy James Mcgeever, Hampstead, England

Just proves the point that you can take the man out of Arsenal but you can't take Arsenal out of the man.

- Bluetooth, London

Just shocking! Again and again, as mentioned before, fifa really need to introduce an official behind the goalposts to spot such incidences. There is too much at stake. Matches have been won and lost as a result of the referee not seeing clearly such offences.
I have been a great fan of Henry for many years -always considered him to be the 'gentleman' of football, both on and off the field. What he did , whether hand to ball or ball to hand , will haunt his reputation. Inspite of the fact he has admitted handling the ball, ultimately it is the responsibilty of the referee to blow the whistle. The rule does say- play on until the whistle blows. Emotions are running very high presently and i fully support the Irish for their reactions. The world cup is multi-billion pound business, a money making machine for all the components that make this such a wonderful tounnament. However, I doubt if the match will be re-played and the ramifications for France and Henry are going to be felt wherever they play,
for a long time. We all know and understand that video replays affect the flow of the game- but having the official behind the goalposts is not rocket science-just common sense.

This is also a reminder to the managers and players to take their opportunities and score goals that matter, Ireland should have won the first leg- they just didnt get the goal that could have prevented what has since transpired.

I can tell for sure, this is going to have a negative effect on France

- Shafique Motani, toronto, canada

Shavers of the Ireland are left with a problem. Use Gillette endorsed by Henry or French BiC shavers.

Grow your breads with pride.

- Hansel, London

Steve M, London.

Since when did Henry have a "squeaky clean" image ? I must have missed it.

- Charlie, Nr. Crackpot, North Yorkshire

Whether or not Robbie Keane would have done the same, is a completely irrelevant argument as it tried to justify an appalling officiating error with conjecture.

Stick to the disgraceful facts of the whole playoff scenario

1) FIFA at the last minute decide to seed the playoffs (even though the basis for qualification had already been pre-determined and agreed by all participating countries) The sole reason for this was to skew the draw in favour of the bigger nations even though the Republic of Ireland had a better group record than the French

2) There was actually a catalogue of errors made last night and the blame must point firmly at the linesman in the first instance. Two French players were clearly offside when the free kick was taken and the linesman was perfectly positioned to see it. Henry handled the ball twice, and the linesman was again well positioned to see it

If FIFA value the integrity of the game and specifically the world cup in South Africa, then they should send the linesman off to spend the rest of his career officiating the Faroe Islands Under 15 first team, and suspend Thierry Henry from the tournament for professional misconduct

Alas, FIFA are nothing more than a little fiefdom run by little men like Sepp Blatter who are only motivated by greed, and will do whatever it takes to ensure that the interests of commercialism and money take precedence over the sport they are supposed to the the global guardian of

- John, Twickenham

I think Robbie Keane is totally right. If the roles had been reversed and it was France who were cheated out of a World Cup place it is certain that the likes of Platini and Blatter would've been issuing statements, launching investigations, suggesting video evidence is brought in, maybe even seeking to have the game replayed. The perpetrator of the handball would almost definitely be facing disciplinary action, including a ban that would limit their involvement in the World Cup.

These guys at football's governing bodies are a bunch of crooks and I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them. By seeding the teams for the playoffs and ignoring this incident they have exactly what they wanted, with Portugal and France in the hat along with a couple of plucky underdogs in Slovenia and Greece. So, we won't hear a word from FIFA about this incident. It's pathetic!

By the way, I'm not Irish.

- Michael, London

Agree entirely with Liam Brady when he says its a shameful day for football, but why can,t the sport make use of the technology available to make sure this event doesn,t happen again. Other sports do, and although it slows down the game, at least the correct decision is arrived at eventually.

- Alex Beveridge, Cumbernauld Scotland.

Last was a disgrace to see a talented footballer like Henry stoop to cheating to save the necks of a very poor France side was sad! I agree with some comments the refs assisstant should have seen the handball and the initial off side!
What worries me is kids look up to players like Henry and the message that went out last night was "It is ok to cheat because you'll get away with it" this not only affects sport but all aspects of life and the governing bodies need to realise their responsibility to ensure cheating is eradicated from all sports now!
You could argue that Ireland should have been 2 or 3 nil up at that point making the issue irrelavant, but the facts are they were not. So how do we stop it?
You cant replay the match it is gone the result has to stand, but what the governing bodies can do is say "ok we are going to make examples of the individuals and the team!
1. The Anelka dive that did not fool the ref but went unpunished - FIFA could look at that and say you dived to try and gain an advantage therefore you are banned from playing in the World Cup finals - how would Mr Anelka feel if told that...probably distraught but maybe he would think twice about doing it again!
2. Henry you cheated by handling the ball not once but twice to gain an unfair advantage which affected the outcome of the game - you too are banned from playing in the World Cup finals!
3. France you will be allowed to compete but you will start with a 3 point penalty

- Rob, North Weald England

typical arrogant French...admits to the hand ball offence...so what...the thing is the French could play their way the World Cup...so lets cheat!!!

- Mark, Walworth

Well when there was a head but (remember Zidane) wc 2006 at that time referee/assistant checked the screen on stadium and it was RED CARD!
Now this well i blame 4th Official

- Baba Dogo, Tanzania

Well well well here we are again, football dragged through the mud, the rest of world sport shaking their combined heads in disbelief.
I wonder how many of the people who have posted on here actually attend football matches, not many I guess from the comments that are being made.
I for one spend a great deal of money paying to watch football matches, and all I demand is correct decisions, if its a penalty, or a goal then so be it, but to constantly watch referees making complete fools of themselves when we have the technology to stop that happening is ridiculous.
Ireland and South Africa as countries have lost billions, the true football supporters of Ireland have been short changed, and Mr Henry's squeaky clean image is in tatters, and the financial implications for him as a result are intangible.
All of this because Septic Bladder and the rest of the elite who feed off of world football keep patting us on the head telling us they know best.

- Steve M, London

The world cup will be held under the banner of fair play.the whole game stinks.The modern game has no honour among so called sportsman.I have fallen out of love with football some years ago,its all about money .The French team are average and will not set the world alight with their football,in south Africa.The French FA should think hard about a replay ,and pressure or at least ask Fifa for a replay.At least if their appeal is rejected then they can take their place with some restored pride.Otherwise they will be seen as cheats,and even if i am wrong and they go and win the world cup. their triumph will be tainted.the cup will be a poison chalice .And football will suffer a severe blow from which it may never recover.This is not about giving the Irish one more chance. its about football the people game restoring some integrity .

- Hassan, london

Congratulating Henry because Diego did the dirty on us and some Irish, Scots, Welsh cheered? No way, we're better than that.

I feel for the Irish - in the round decent people who have helped build this country and who made an enormous contribution to the good things to be found in England. Shame on Henry, the French and FIFA.

- Neil, Bedford, England

You can not blame henry for what he did at all!!!! Any player would of done the same thing if it meant their team getting to the world cup!! I though it is embarrasing how the ireland players and especially robbie keane are throwing their rattles out of the pram. If your going to blame anyway blame the Ref and his assistant for not spotting it.

- Gunner For Life, Sussex

Would Keane be talking so much if it was the other way round.. and the british media??? they would have said it was an intelligent handball beautifully played for the motherland...

I can hear them saying..."well thats football, he did not mean to do it, it hit his hand, sometimes you have to accept some decisions go against you and some for you and hope over a period of time, they even out."

- Ritesh, ny, usa

Typical Gooners, the only way they could beat the Irish was by cheating.

- Mark, St Albans

I agree with jonny london,I can remember the Irish cheering the Maradona goal in 86,and in other competitions football ,rugby whatever the Irish on the whole always go against the English,as far as I am concerned,we English owe no allegiance to the Irish,Scots or Welsh as they owe no allegiance to us,except when it suits them.

- Jim Ex Pat,Islington N1, thailand

Shame on you Henry, Blatter, Platini, Domenech(sucker)!!!
Replay the match or ban Henry for the WC2010!!!!
Where's fairplay???????????
Great job Irland

- David, switzerland

I for one Irishman didn't cheer when the hand of God incident happened, and I support England when we are not involved.
My opinion is that this incident will force FIFA to to use televised technology, which should have been introduced years ago.
Robbie was right to have his say, even though he will be disciplined for it. The 'big issue' is that the goalposts were moved by seeding the play-offs and that was Blatter's decision and a disgrace.
Blatter and Platini will indeed be happy that France are through, but the better team lost.
Ireland have been kicked in the teeth twice now. But why worry, it's only little Ireland.

- Kevin, London

I'd hate to be the marketing for Gillette today.....

"Mach 3 - 2 Ireland"
"Gillette the best a cheat can get"
"Use both hands for a close shave"

- Hansel, London

Its an absolute disgrace. FIFA and UEFA step in and reverse the decision. Henry admits to handling. France cannot go on otherwise they will be labelled cheats.

- Dhan Raj, Basildon

What more evidence do you need, Its time the FA used the vidio ref.

- Richard Edmunds, Rayleigh UK

Not all Irish people cheered for Argentina that time. We are not all anti English.
My Mum is a Londoner,hence I follow West Ham for my troubles! I always support England at the World Cup as well as Ireland when we are not cheated out of qualifying!
I am also disgusted at all the Gooners on the BBC site defending Le Cheat.
Henry could have owned up and been praised for all time. Now he should be known as a cheat for all time,not an icon for a fair play.

- Colm Gallagher, Dublin

Congratulations Monsiuer Platini, I now finally understand your long term opposition to using video replays for key decisions

- Kevin, London

Why, o why, can't we just have television match officials in soccer, just like in rugby? The ref can simply react to defenders' protests for handball by 'going upstairs'. Problem sorted.

- Jonathan Charles, London

Robbie Keane's comments may have some justification, but he just sounds like a child whining about not getting his way. Of course Platini will be pleased at France qualifying - not because he's UEFA president, but because he's French! Ultimately, he doesn't carry that much influence. Blatter, however, is a law unto himself and regularly brings world football into disrepute with
bizarre opinions and political double-dealing.

The Irish will rightly feel hard done by, but the REAL problem is with the ref and his linos who didn't see a problem with goal. I used to admire Henry, and he has plummeted in my estimation...but claiming its all actually just a giant high level conspiracy against Ireland is laughable.

- Richard, London UK

At least Henry admitted it and didnt seem to try and cheat, but it will be interesting to see how much (if any) reaction this incident gets from UEFA against their beloved France. Dont hold your breath.

- Barndoor Bendtner, uk

The FIFA website's summary of the goal says everything "France skipper Thierry Henry won the match for the hosts when his angled pass amid a goalmouth scramble was met by the head of Wiliam Gallas". No mention of seeding the playoffs to begin with & the blantant refusal to acknowledge Henry's cheating to get France to the finals. To think FIFA then have the nerve to lecture others about Fair Play.....

- Peter, London

What I can't believe is all the gooners on BBC 606 sticking up for Henry last night.

Disgusting behaviour...

- Mike Patton, London

in 86' the Irish nation cheered Maradonna for his blatant cheating against England.
Well done Henry and France, Bravo..........

- Jonny, London

No doubt they'll be calls from Platini for Henry to serve a six match ban commencing at the start of the WC!

Is anybody actually surprised after the quick announcement that the play-off would be seeded!

Mind you, as it's not England I don't actually care!

- Mark, South-East London

Eduardo allegedly dives and gets the book thrown at him by UEFA. Henry admits cheating. What now - I think having France at the world cup rather than Ireland may come into play here!

- Richard, Adelaide, Australia

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