World Cup Play-Offs

[Tony Le Mesmer]

No mention of the French disallowed goal that was probably onside...........

Or the pen in the 1st leg.

Isnt the World Cup all about incidents like this? When i think World Cup, i dont think about amazing football, i think Maradona hand ball, Schumacher GBH and Zidane Head Butt.

[papereyes]

the truth is between the two, first it hit his hand, to stop it going out, he then controlled it with his hand and passed with his foot. Cheating? Yes. Would we have complained if Rooney had done it at a key moment? No.

ps I was up for the Irish, of course (French in-laws ). Doyle is an interesting case. His flick ons and tackling back were first rate, but it's true he was not the direct threat that a number 9 should be.

Irish MOM for me was Lawrence, French MOM, the goalie or Anelka.

First time I've really seen the French keeper play (and known about it) and I thought he was superb. Very agile and brave.

Would also agree with Lawrence being one of the best Irish players - some decent crosses and fantastic battling.

I did LOL when McShane came on - the irish guys around us were not optimistic about him in the slightest.

No mention of the French disallowed goal that was probably onside...........

It wasn't though. The replay showed that pretty clearly.

The penalty claim just beforehand was a bit luckier - but even then your argument is hardly the most compelling - "But what about BLAH BLAH BLAH". There's one clear case of cheating setting up a goal. Other events within the game don't come into that particular equation.

It's fairly marginal really isn;t it ?

[papereyes]

Oh, and a minor LOL at the mini-riot in the curry mile as Manchester's Algerian population celebrated qualification.

[royal tee]

The penalty claim just beforehand was a bit luckier - but even then your argument is hardly the most compelling - "But what about BLAH BLAH BLAH". There's one clear case of cheating setting up a goal. Other events within the game don't come into that particular equation.

If they happened before the handball then yes they absolutely do come into that equation. If you want the ref to get all the decisions correct you can't pick and choose which ones

[Alan Partridge]

Ireland out then?

Good-oh.

[papereyes]

The penalty claim just beforehand was a bit luckier - but even then your argument is hardly the most compelling - "But what about BLAH BLAH BLAH". There's one clear case of cheating setting up a goal. Other events within the game don't come into that particular equation.

If they happened before the handball then yes they absolutely do come into that equation. If you want the ref to get all the decisions correct you can't pick and choose which ones

but that still doesn't justify them getting any individual event wrong.

It's an observation, granted, but its a poor substitute for an argument.

[TBM]

How many people on here are Irish?
How many people on here (for some reason) "support" Ireland?

Personally i couldn't give a shit who went through last night - just cos a couple of current & ex-Reading players play for them why should i support a foreign country? - its like saying we should support Iceland cos of of our players playing for them.

If i HAD to chose last night then i would probably say France, at least they don't seem to give us shit when we fcuk up

[Ginger Ninjas]

How many people on here are Irish?
How many people on here (for some reason) "support" Ireland?

Personally i couldn't give a shit who went through last night - just cos a couple of current & ex-Reading players play for them why should i support a foreign country? - its like saying we should support Iceland cos of of our players playing for them.

If i HAD to chose last night then i would probably say France, at least they don't seem to give us shit when we fcuk up

People are always going to have their favourites, and for many people here (HNA?, and England in general) I guess that's going to be Ireland. I remember following them at USA '94, in place of England, and they are still one of the teams I'd like to do well, enhanced by possibly my favourite (ex ) Reading player lining up for them. Would have been good to see Doyle (and Hunt) at the world cup, knowing that it was Reading who made them as players.

I'm going next summer, and am hoping for games featuring the likes of Brazil, Spain and Holland, as these are most likely to play the best football. I'm not really that bothered about seeing England - seen them before, not particularly interesting.

Think my point is that nobody is obligated to support any side/country, and that who i'll be supporting at the games i see in SA will most likely be pretty arbitrary decisions. In terms of last night's match, plenty of people are going to follow Ireland for many reasons (proximity to UK, Doyle/Hunt, Irish mates) and are going to be pretty miffed that a moment of cheating by the arrogant Henry has denied them a chance of reaching the finals.

[LUX]

it was indeed the nightmare match for chippy little Englanders, with both possible outcomes having negative aspects.

We don't like the Irish, cos everyoner knows they do not like us (same applies to the Scots), we don't like any aspect about the French because we have that really nagging, annoying feeling that they are better at the important things in life, and enjoy themselves more than we do.

[cmonurz]

Like paps, a from me at whoever wrote it was marginal, in fact that replay suggest that there was definite movement of the arm for the first handball, never mind the second, which isn't actually so clear from that angle.

[Dirk Gently]

it was indeed the nightmare match for chippy little Englanders, with both possible outcomes having negative aspects.

We don't like the Irish, cos everyoner knows they do not like us (same applies to the Scots), we don't like any aspect about the French because we have that really nagging, annoying feeling that they are better at the important things in life, and enjoy themselves more than we do.

But we can all take great solace in the fact that this is the exact set of circumstances which is most likely to make Spacey spontaneously combust.....

[Compo's Hat]

In a small part of Exeter a deaf man is going spacko!

Ironically, it came off the part of Henry's anatomy that Spacey was using to fiddle with himself for the best part of 102 minutes

If it was England in the same situation with Rooney handling the ball last night we'd all be laughing our heads off and sticking the middle finger up at the opposition.

[Starfish]

In a small part of Exeter a deaf man is going spacko!

Ironically, it came off the part of Henry's anatomy that Spacey was using to fiddle with himself for the best part of 102 minutes

If it was England in the same situation with Rooney handling the ball last night we'd all be laughing our heads off and sticking the middle finger up at the opposition.

Kevin Doyle admitted that he probably would have done the same if he had been in Henry's position. I suspect he might have slipped first though.

[TBM]

If it was England in the same situation with Rooney handling the ball last night we'd all be laughing our heads off and sticking the middle finger up at the opposition.

Exactly

World Cup final.......England are playing Argentina and its 0-0 going into the 89th minute. Wayne Rooney punches the ball into the net and a goal is given......would you be going mad cos we've just won the world cup, or going mad cos Rooney has cheated and the game should be replied.

As people are saying, thats football - sometimes it works for you, sometimes it works against you.

[Row Z Royal]

How many people on here are Irish?
How many people on here (for some reason) "support" Ireland?

Personally i couldn't give a shit who went through last night - just cos a couple of current & ex-Reading players play for them why should i support a foreign country? - its like saying we should support Iceland cos of of our players playing for them.

If i HAD to chose last night then i would probably say France, at least they don't seem to give us shit when we fcuk up

I'm English, but I'm technically half Irish so I follow them quite closely.

[PurpleTurtle]

We don't like the Irish, cos everyoner knows they do not like us

Speak for yourself, I do.

I've no Irish ancestry but was supporting them last night as I wanted to see them triumph against a theoretically superior opponent, their David against France's Goliath, if you will. I've also got fond memories of following them in USA '94, John Aldrige ranting on the touchline, Big Jack looking a spacker in a baseball cap etc etc etc.

I've always admired Thierry Henry as a player, my view of him being that he's so good that he's never really had to resort to the pantomine villain malarkey that many other so-called top players resort to (Didier Drogba - that means you).

However last night he looked like a spent force and to have to resort to cheating so blatantly to grab a goal is a real fall from grace.

[Starfish]

Interesting sport - handball. Olympic Sport too. Look what country won gold in 2008.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handball_a ... r_Olympics

[papereyes]

Incidentally, that's Iceland's first medal since, well, ever. They've a smattering of bronzes so that was a huge story at the time.

Handball's great. We should play it in England more.

[Hoop Blah]

On the calls for video replays, where would you draw the line though?

What incident becomes crucial in the build up to a goal being given? The other day Man Utd lost when they conceeded from a free kick they thought shouldn't been given. That decision was cruicial in them losing.

It also still comes down to an opinion from an official. Having another pair of eyes review an incident just removes authority from the referee.

I'm in favour of goal line technology to indicate matter of fact decisions regarding the ball crossing the line, but anything that introduces a delay in the game or another individuals view on an incident is a no no for me.

As for Henry, he knew what he was doing, he meant it, and he's a cheat for doing it. Can I really blame him for it? No, because it's the same thing the majority of players would've done in that split second to get their team to the World Cup. Still an arrogant twat though.

[Sun Tzu]

Like paps, a from me at whoever wrote it was marginal, in fact that replay suggest that there was definite movement of the arm for the first handball, never mind the second, which isn't actually so clear from that angle.

Ha ! it was a somewhat tongue in cheek comment !
It was a handball (talk of 'two' handballs is pointless really although the second movement is the more convincing one).

I'm bemused by the comment about officials getting every decision 'right'. it won;t happen ever. Officials make hundreds of decisions during a game (possibly thousands). They make them from a fixed point and often make several simultaneously. They won;t get them all right.

The one last night wasn't an error by the officials. They simply couldn't have seen it. None of them would have seen it and decided it wasn;t handball.

I hope this doesn't take us off down the road of video replays again. It would destroy the game. I've also heard people suggesting managers should be able to challenge two decisions per half. Obviously using the huge success that introducing that into cricket as the basis for that one !

I feel really sorry for the Irish, they deserved better (although not much better given their inability to score more than once in 210 minutes !). There have been many far more 'unfair' incidents but for it to happen so late in such a key game must have been a real sickener. I would have loved them to have been in S Africa if only to have had Doyle /Hunt / Hunt / Long / O'Dea to follow.