MLB’s umpiring crews aren’t alone when it comes to wildly blown calls on a huge stage. The Times’ Tony Cascarino can barely contain his scorn for France’s Thierry Henry, insisting the above incident — which catapulted Le Blues into 2010’s World Cup finals in South Africa — “has tarnished his reputation forever.”
What a tragic missed opportunity. What a chance to be a hero Henry had ” not to his home country but to the whole game. Cheating in all its guises is slowly killing football and if Henry had held his hands up again and admitted to the referee that he had handled the ball and the goal should not stand, he would have earned the admiration of the entire sporting world.
But he didn™t. He knew that he had done wrong, but he put self-interest ahead of justice. He could have been a beacon of integrity; instead he shined shame on himself and on football.
Cheating in football is commonplace now because the authorities cheat us all by their spineless failure to punish the perpetrators. Will Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president, or Michel Platini, the Frenchman who is his Uefa counterpart, condemn Henry, or float the idea that the tie should be replayed? Of course not. They will turn a blind eye, and another piece of football™s credibility, another little part of its soul, will quietly die.
Unreal. My favorite player ever (Henry) doing it to my favorite non-US country (Ireland). Not just unreal, it’s disgraceful.
Henry found a conscience eventually, but too late. You are right he could have been remembered forever as the beacon of fair play had he protested. Now he deserves what he gets. However as a player and referee myself I blame the ref more. He should not have started the game without conferring with the other refs and then Henry. Keep calm, get the others involved and get it right. He could have given Henry the chance to come clean. The ref was a fool. With tuT kind of protest he should have never started the game until he exhausted every angle and the captains of both teams. FIFA now too are utter idiots for not training rferees that the two most important rules are common sense and one team shall not gain an unfair advantage over the other. Lastly, what Henry did was instinctive. It was the celebration after the goal and his “I am not the referee” comments after the game that are disturbing. After so much bad press he sounds saddened by it now, but too little too late. His chance to be forever remembered a gentleman and honorable role model was lost in a matter of minutes when the naive referee restarted the game. Zidane reacted in anger but did not steal. Henry reacted but then when he got away with it he celebrated like a purse thief.
Sorry Henry, a lot will have to be done to restore your image. You lost your chance to prove any honor or integrity. Just another typical forward in my book. I could never imagine Fontaine, Eusebio or even Best doing what you did.
The FFF got in bed with FIFA and I wonder if all of France is disappointed their federation lacked the courage to accept the request for a replay. Terrible business decision also. Would have been great ratings for that rematch! Certainly there will be plenty of courage references to the war. The Irish are good sports and will have fun with it…. Many had the courage to fight for the liberation of France. The drama is not over . FFF could have made a world statement with the world game. Another opportunity wasted.