FRANCE booked their ticket into the World Cup finals in Paris last night after a blatant act of cheating.
The sides drew 1-1 in Paris after extra time but France won 1-0 in Dublin last Saturday thus winning the tie 2-1 on aggregate.
Robbie Keane opened the scoring with a sublime strike following excellent work from Damian Duff and Kevin Kilbane in the first half.
However, the hosts restored parity after Thierry Henry deliberately handled the ball not once, but twice, inside the box in the lead up to the winning goal by William Gallas in the first period of extra time.
The bigger countries get the decisions they say, and last night Ireland were denied the opportunity to qualify because of serious errors of judgment by the referee and the linesman.
The error – presuming that Ireland, who were on top for most of the match, would have won – will cost the FAI at least €10 million at a time when the domestic game in this country is on its knees financially.
Speaking in the RTE studio directly after the game Eamon Dunphy said that Ireland were robbed and that video referees should be introduced. Dunphy added that Henry should feel some shame.
Graham Souness said that there was an injustice done and that the better team lost.
A text on the BBC from an Arsenal fan read: "I am a lifelong Arsenal fan and huge fan of Thierry Henry, but one of his greatest assets was his personality and honesty. I feel I've lost a lot of respect for a man I adored."
An Irish fan at the match said that Henry was a cheat and that they were robbed.
RTE were unable to get any interviews with the Irish team after tonight's game because they were too distraught.
____________________
FIFA, who rigged the play offs in the first place, must be delighted. France are through to the World Cup.
Daylight robbery. Ireland were cheated out of the World Cup.
Hey Mr Out, you really think he was cheating or was it just a sublime sleight of hand? Forget about the scenario if it was one of our lads who’d done it, can we ever think of this as artistry? The technology already exists to replay these situations ( or whether a ball crosses the line ) but is not in use. FIFA won’t impose any further regulation and for as long as that is the case, there will always be opportunities for these arch tricksters ( I can’t use that word cheat or thieve) to fall, feign injury or handle the ball. I think it’s part of the game until its regulated out.
Now though, there were 12 matches and we played wonderfully in one of them. The Andy Reid debacle has been forgotten or forgiven and we’ve had another heroic defeat, Trap’s back in the balcony and it’s the cheap seats for the French. We missed 4 x sitters, Duffer’s one on one, Robbie rounding the goalie, Johnno ballooning the ball over the bar and young Doyle not connecting with the header. Dems the breaks Mr Out. This is the Greek tragedy of Irish soccer, a minority sport to hurling, bogball and soon rugby.
I think it was cheating, yes Mr Sniffle. A few minutes before that incident Anelka took a dive in the box, leaving his left leg trailing in the hope that it would make contact with Given. Agreed, Ireland should have put the French away before the "Hand of Gaul". If it was a rugby match the ref would have just went to the TV ref and the "goal" would have been disallowed within ten seconds. Unfortunately as you point out,
cheating is now part of the game. Will it be regulated out. I doubt it because FIFA cheated in the first place by rigging the play offs in favour of the bigger nations. It goes all the way to the top. The most popular sport on the planet is corrupt.
-Seconds Out
It a Multibillion euro indudtry, are you really surprised that they would do everything in their power to insure that they have the most profitable World Cup possible. France = 60million consumers, Ireland = 4,5/5million consumers (who are in recession and therefor less likely to dole out the readies on the World Cup strip, flught t SA, accomodation etc). Bit of a no brainer from a business stand point.
Funnnily enough though, in other forms of entertainment, like say the theatre, you wouldn't get up and demand that the show have a happy ending just because you've invested your self emotionaly in the piece and have come to believe tha it has real baring on your own life.
When do Ireland get their own WWF team?
Cheating , remember that piece you did on the Dean Richards blood gate thing ? I didn’t think that was cheating either. I thought it was mischievous and then Mr Le Geek came in with his view on the opportunities presented by the un-contested scrum. My point is that all sport presents these opportunities. And if sport is about quicker, faster, stronger and better, then you’re regulation also has be similarly competitive. Professional sport, since its owned by the man, even more so. The man cheats all the way through the system and he owns sport, so you can’t expect the athletes not to cheat. What’s that saying about the qualities we like being the ones which are fuck-all use to us in business, and the ones we dislike being dammed useful. Look I’m not justifying it, but I’m also not going to sit idly by and become victimised mainstream media hypocritical cant and rhetoric ( a la Des Cahill this morning)
And it’s actually not cheating. I see kids out playing ball and trying the falling thing all the time. They have to be dammed good to get away it, and funnily enough the ones who do ( get away with it) happen to be the best players.
I think that the Hand of Gaul and Bloodgate scandals were pre-mediatated Mr Sniffle, and that's the difference. Henry knew full well the ball was going out of play last night and he controlled it with his hand, and then again for good measure. Richards claimed after his ban that fake blood injuries in rugby was widespread – but your entering moral relativisim territory there. I think there is a misunderstanding about the falling down part amongst the non soccer public, During my time with Real Madrid and er, Prospect Priory C, we all knew that you have to be prepared to go down to take the weight out of a tackle, otherwise your leg would be broken. Players are aware that the tackle is coming in. They take the weigh off their standing foot – or risk being maimed for life – and fire in shot, cross pass with the other. If you keep your weigh on your standing foot in this situations you'd better be in the VHI. I reckon C'est has a point with the population thing. Well the Catholic Church tried to help us there C'est by banning condoms – guess we weren't in the saddle enough.
And like C'sest said when he said this
"you wouldn’t get up and demand that the show have a happy ending just because you’ve invested your self emotionaly in the piece and have come to believe tha it has real baring on your own life"
Mr. Out, that's not the falling thing I'm talking about. You may have moved on from Madrid before that thrush, Renaldo, joined. It's his type of falling and the Anelka incident you referred to above. Those are the fallings I'm talking about. The choreographed and practiced. The wonderful Messi is the arch exponent of the art. You have the advantage on me from your years with Real, my years as a mediocre egg chasing domestique are of no use to me now. But it’s still not cheating.
And you made me Google “moral relativism”, so I’m ready now for prime time with Miriam.
Well Mr Sniffle I left the Bernabeau in the early 90s following a contractual dispute with the then President
Jose, Manuel, Herrara, Ernesto Moriarty & Son. Penned a five year contract in the Limerick District League a month later and never looked back really. Who needs La Liga anyway, when you can be getting the living fuck kicked out of you below in the Cats Cradle – and the ref telling you quite emphatically that this has nothing to do with him.
Hi,
Definitely match fixing going on. Henry must have been bribed to hilt. hi henry, where are you off to? Bahamas?
Let me get this straight "TERRY HENRY" as I call him, stated to the referee: "The ball hit my hand??". And he said the referee told him "I'm the referee not you"??? I've never heard such shite in my life. The fix was in and SEPTIC BLATTER/Fifa and the refs were in on it. Every fan in Paris witnessed it, and every fan on TV witnessed it. So how do all the refs on field miss it??
-Seconds Out
"Who needs La Liga anyway,"
Why, Les children of course! (is that reference too obscure or does anyone else remember those biscuit things?)
It's a terrible shame, and world + dog knows that by his own admission he did this on purpose, but I can't help feeling that we're bolting the stable door too late…remember, if that goal had been disallowed, it would have gone to penalties. Against the team that LOST by the slimmest of margins to Italy on Penalties in the 2006 World Cup Final. Do we honestly believe that we would have won that shootout? On the performance of France's keeper alone, I would bet my house we would have lost anyway.
Surely our place in the World Cup finals was lost by halfway through the campaign when we failed to secure victories over mediocre opposition, then gifted two simple goals against the Bulgarians, later on when we gifted the Italians (twice!) with two easy goals to lose us 2 points; penultimately failing to beat Montenegro (who?I mean come on!!) at home and even last week when 3 of our defenders went to sleep and watched Anelka (except for the St Leger who bravely turned his back to the shot and actually scored the goal for him. I remember watching that game and the play just before the goal was so slack that the commentators were actually talking about something else! It was such an obvious situation for any one of our defenders to take a couple of steps, challenge and clear the ball, yet they all failed to do so. Surely these are the things that cost our place. Our qualification campaign should have ended in success with a win against Italy.
So whilst I do feel that we've been cheated last night, I don't think that Henri's handball is what kept us from the World Cup. The team's earlier lack of self belief is what did that, plain and simple. All credit to the team, they did us proud many times but they also at times made me cringe.
I'd love to see Henri burn for this though, it's what soccer needs to clean up the cheating culture. I think the only way it's ever going to be not cool to cheat again is if they make an example of one of the big names.. Then again, it will probably just become another celebrated "hand of God" viral video, because he's just too famous to have this affect him.
Who’s to blame? Thierry Henry? Referee Martin Hansson? The assistant referee? Definitely to blame is the lack of modern technology as a highly efficient aid to assist referees and other football officials during international soccer matches.
Was the ball behind the line? Was this a foul? Did Thierry Henry use his hand, not once, but twice? Camera surveillance, instant playback and analysis are the answer at international football competitions as an effective and quick device to settle disputes.
Millions of TV spectators witnessed Thierry Henry’s game of handball; an incident seemingly gone unnoticed to Sweden’s otherwise unbiased referee Martin Hansson and one of his assistant referees. The referee and assistant referee did not have the option and opportunity of slow motion playback as we did watching the game on TV.
Other sports such as ice hockey, baseball, American football, even the apparently resolute conservative sport tennis, take advantage of modern technology to resolve disputes. The use of an electronic cameras in football games would have been utopian last night, in a sport where a single missed or poorly made decision can be disastrous for a team, in this case the Irish team. Thierry Henry would not have gotten away with his handball episode in any of the above mentioned sports due to the use of instant playback video proof. UEFA and FIFA need to bid farewell to the stone-age and join the high-tech age of the 21st century.
Respect your point soldiergirl but I disagree. I think it would remove a lot of the passion from the game, cause too much stop/start breaks, and anyway there would still be people who disagreed, be thankful we didn't have camera replays for the given/anelka incident – that could have gone against us!
And as we saw recently in bloodgate, it will not stop people from trying to gain an unfair advantage. I'd rather that we saw occasional injustices like this than end up with doped up players bred to play the sport where all creativity and magic is constrained within an ever-decreasing set of rules…surely the passion that we enjoy as soccer fans is in part at least because of perceived past injustices?
Look at American Football, that game is not exciting except in very small situaitons, most people who watch / attend the games are there for the day out, the hotdogs and beer and jiggling cheerleader boobies, not the "sport". The only ones who can actually play the thing are a select few.
That's the reason why soccer is the most played ball game in the US, because it has a low barrier of entry and the rules are open enough to allow anyone to get involved, whilst maintaining a minimum standard of sportsmanship…what SHOULD happen after last night is that Henri should have the book thrown at him; he should be stripped of his Jersey by the French Football Association, and banned from competing in the upcoming World Cup by FIFA. That would be justice, but a replay or overturning of the result would not, since the result was not a given. What would we do if FIFA gave us a replay and we got hammered 4-0? Who would be blame then?
We weren't "cheated out of the world cup" . We WERE cheated out of a penalty shoot-out, but we may well have lost that, too.
Technology is the way to go as you say but FIFA are resisting it basically because they are arrogant because football is the worlds most popular sport. You can see this attitude at the Olympics in the football event. FIFA evensdictates to the International Olympic Committee at same even though the tournament is under the auspices of the IOC. Meantime, the IOC restrict football to and underage tournamnet because if they leave the full version in football will dominate the entire Games.
The FAI today called for a replay with France after confirming that it will lodge a complaint with FIFA following the Republic of Ireland's controversial defeat in Paris which denied the country a place at next year's World Cup.
A statement read: 'The Football Association of Ireland confirmed that it will lodge a complaint with FIFA, following last night's World Cup play-off match between France and the Republic of Ireland in Paris.
'Conclusive video evidence of a deliberate hand ball by Thierry Henry, which led to France's additional time goal, has been seen by millions of football fans worldwide. The blatantly incorrect decision by the referee to award the goal has damaged the integrity of the sport and we now call on FIFA, as the world governing body for our sport, to organise for this match to be replayed. The hand ball, was recognised [by] the FIFA commissioner, the referee observer and the match officials, as well as by the player himself.'
The statement continued: 'There is precedent for the invalidation of such results. In 2005, the Bureau of the FIFA World Cup organising committee reached a decision to invalidate the result of a World Cup qualification match between Uzbekistan and Bahrain on the basis of a "technical error by the referee of the match".
'The Football Association of Ireland is hoping that FIFA and its Disciplinary Committee will, on behalf of football fans world-wide, act in a similar fashion so that the standards of fair play and integrity can be protected.'
However, FIFA today said that there will be no replay between France and Ireland.
According to a piece in the Guardian website, FIFA are refering to Law 5 in the official rules of the game which states that the referee has 'full authority to enforce the Laws of the Game in connection with the match to which he has been appointed,' and that 'the decisions of the referee regarding facts connected with play are final.
Hey C’est,
Who needs La Liga anyway,”
Why, Les children of course
Double and treble Heh .
Our house couldn’t afford these luxuries . We grew up chewing on the the heal of the sliced pan. ( which my kids now throw in le bin )
And, and , he still wasn’t cheating !
Mr Out,
That contractual dispute, that was when Louis Walsh was your agent ?
Love that the ref would shout “ it’s nothing to do with me “, just like that Swedish suent last evening .
I recall saying to a ref way back them – following a six month loan period with River Plate from Deportiva from La Coruna, and then on to the District League – that the ball was too hard because someone had pumped too much air into it. "I don't give a fuck. I won't be kicking it.", he said! Groucho Marx stuff. But you know the real tragedy about this Henry thingy, the real tragedy is that we can't laugh at the English anymore following their episode with Maradonna. We're buddies now, Paddy and the Saxon, going forward, forever entwined in the victimhood of the hand of God and Gaul.
Louis was my agent Mr Sniffle, although he always he insisted that he faniced Donal Og Cusack for some reason…..Meanwhile, I recall saying to a ref way back them – following a six month loan period with River Plate from Deportiva La Coruna, and then on to the Limerick District League that the ball was too hard because someone had pumped too much air into it. "I don't give a fuck. I won't be kicking it.", he said! Groucho Marx stuff. But you know the real tragedy about this Henry thingy, the real tragedy is that we can't laugh at the English anymore following their episode with Maradonna. We're buddies now, Paddy and the Saxon, going forward, forever entwined in the victimhood of the hand of God and Gaul.
i disagree that video technology would cause stop starts in the game. i've often listen to matches on the radio, a disputed incident occurs, and the players are arguing with the ref. for the majority of incidents the radio commentator will have seen a replay and made a call, long before play has resumed. also most decisions, on goals like last nights, would be made long before the goal celebrations are over. there would be no loss of playing time.
the best idea i've heard so far on the matter, is to sue fifa for negligence. because of the decision last night the fai faces loss of earnings, sponsership, and ranking points. hit fifa where it hurts, in the pocket. and if you can't get fifa, then go after the ref and the linesman for incompetence. see how long it takes for videos to be used then!
@Steve, how many times would it stop/start a game of soccer? There are not that many goalmouth incidents in the first place in your average game, sometimes those jobs-for-life stat. counters reveal an amazing total of 2 shots on target during a 90 minute funfest.
As for passion, barring last nights game I'd have to go back years to recall game of football that didn't have the ability to put me into a deep slumber – embarrassing stuff when you're at the counter and only five pints in you.
Hence I tend to stick with the oval-ball game, despite the increasing tendency of refs to "go upstairs" for rather obvious scores But can justify it when I think of another case prior to the TMO, when Munsters John Kelly scored a try against Stade Francais in 2001(iirc), but because Steve Landers, the English Touch Judge had forgotten to bring his Labrador and white stick to the game, didn't see what everyone else in Lille Stadium and millions on TV could, Munster were cheated out of a European final. And given that soccer scores don't normally involve trying to decide if the ball has landed on either side of a line somewhere underneath six or so bulky players, chances are decisions could be made as in last nights case within seconds of a disputed call. How that contravenes FIFA's "fair play" bullshit is beyond me, but then I'm not some fat-cat Swiss version of Charlie Haughey.
There'll be no replay. But by fuck we have the sacred bitterness rights safely tucked away in our arse-pockets until France beat Algeria by a dubious o.g. (suicide bomber) next Summer.
This is getting very tiring. As a nation we took the piss of England when Maradonna "scored" with his hand. Now we are bent double with indignation, hypocrites. Even that langer Dermot Ahearn is bitchin to the media, embarrassing.
C'est la guerre.
The news wires are on fire with the outrage and sheer injustice of it all. Sports editors across the planet are on high alert as Paddy takes to the streets across the globe burring effigy's of Le rodent faced cheat Thierry Henry.
French embassy staff in Tel Aviv report that they can't leave the building because the only Irish Jew in the city is outside the gates, brandishing an empty Guinness bottle at them.
Elsewhere, Irish Troops await the green light from the T-Shock to invade Paris and slaughter all garlic suckling new born male infants.
"This is an injustice of biblical proportions, " growled Biffo.
Staff at Reuters, Associated Press, ABC, CNN and Al Jazerra have all had their leave cancelled.
Speaking from the Vatican the Pope appealed for calm, fasting and prayer, while the Dali Lama correctly pointed out that there were two French fucks offside (his words folks, his words) even before Henry got a hand on the ball.
But over on the FIFA website it's all sweetness and light. Over in the parallel universe you have to search for a mention of the game in Paris, and when they did mention it last night the wrote that Henry had "played" the ball across for Gallas.
No mention of the double hand ball. You couldn't make it up.
Meanwhile, FAI CEO John Delaney today pointed out that the French committed FOUR offence in the direct lead up to the goal.
As spotted by the eagle eyed Dali Lama there were two Frogs offside and Henry handled the ball twice.
The FAI are thinking of appealing to the French FA.
However, the French launched their World Cup kit today. All appeals will fall on deaf ears I reckon.
Thirty two nations will compete at next summers World Cup, but only thirty one of them will have qualified legitimately.
As of this moment, nearly 130,000 people have signed up on a facebook petition calling for a rematch
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Petition-to-have-IRELAND-Vs-FRANCE-REPLAYED/180940979795?ref=nf
Many of them are not Irish. I don't think the thing will have much influence on FIFA, but it's interesting to see what sort of waves "le main Henrique" is making and to watch where it's going to go.
@Hoof, you make some very good points but I still tend to disagree. This post is going to be a bit tl;dr so bear with me, thanks!
Rugby is by nature a start-stop game. Scrums, Lineouts, etc, are all more formal and take more time to setup than free kicks (generally) or throw-ins, you very rarely see a fast penalty taken in rugby these days, etc. But that suits the game – rugby is , to me anyway, a thinking Titan's man's game, intimately tactical and a joy to watch when played well. Soccer is a bit more chaotic, more flowing (in its own way) and so I don't think it's a fair analogy.
Also, do you remember (and forgive me if the facts are wrong) a few years ago, Munster versus I don't know who, in (was it the final?) Heineken cup..anyway we were winning and we had a scrum near our 22, and that guy Healey I think stole the ball from the scrum illegally and scored a try, and we lost? TV refs didn't save the game then, even though it was a blatant foul, obvious to all, in much the same spirit as Henri's cheating last night.
The real problem is the mentality of cheating. If he was of pure heart, Henri would have thrown his head or boot at that ball, and kept his hands well away, as is an instinct in any sporting soccer player, even if it does mean you will lose the game. It's bred into you and you can't change it. It goes to show that the idols of football have a cancer at their core.
Plus, Bloodgate showed us how inventive cheaters can be…I really think that if you try to over-formalise something like soccer it will lose something fundamental. Can you imagine, no more heated arguments over the game, about was he offside? Was the ball fully over the line (and I remember several big games in the last few years where this was a very big point), was that a foul, etc? Surely this is one of the things that keeps our passion (yes I know the Premier league for example has become like the NFL, for Entertainment Purposes only ) that we have for soccer…for the same reason that the GAA (whatever you may think of them) fought tooth and nail to prevent the players from becoming pro…to keep the games pure, wild and part of our culture.
That's why I would be against TV referees and so on. There were enough officials on the field last night to make the right call. The Linesman on the far side failed to do his job and flag a very obvious offside; the linesman on the near side should have already been on the touch line to flag the hand ball.
I truly believe that the only way to clean up soccer and "fix" it, if you will, is to castigate the professional cheaters who have made a career and fortune from their lack of respect for the game.
Personally, I don't want a replay. We didn't perform well enough to go to the World Cup. what I DO want to see, if Henri stripped of his captainship and dropped from the French Squad. THAT is justice, and sends out a clear message; if you break the rules, you will be punished.
Hopefully though this incident will send some shockwaves out and perhaps we can at least take comfort then that we were involved in a fundamental change that helps restore soccer to its title of "beautiful game".
Bock, I can commence the clean up of fotball, That ref is from Sweden and if you want I can ski down and make inflamotory remarks as to his judging ability at the match. If you wish I can become very offensive. Could you send me your blasphemy machine ( WITH SPIKED TYRES) and I will station it outside his dwelling on high volume. Just give me the word Bock and I will begin my partisan activities, My condolences to Ireland.
There is a petion on facebook that opened today to have the match replayed.
Petition to have Ireland Vs France replayed!!!
It's up to an impressive 157,000 unique signatures already
What about if it was Robbie Keane using his hand for Ireland, would it be the same story?
Maradona done it and many other players done it already. It happens when there is a lot at stake !
It is not fair and gives a bad image of sport, i do agree.
Did anybody remember all the doping stories about Irish athletes at the olympic for exemple ? Is it not cheating ? What about the Roy Keane/Mc Carthy scandal few years ago leaving all Irish kids hopes down ?
But lets not forget that Ireland is a bad football team with low skills and have to employ an Italian coach to try to show them how to play football !!!!
Also any excuses for the Irish to pass Racist comments and act as Racists.
Vive la France and lets go to South Africa!!!!!!
Allons enfants de la Patrie, Come, children of the Fatherland,
Le jour de gloire est arrivé ! The day of glory has arrived!
Contre nous de la tyrannie, Against us, tyranny's
L'étendard sanglant est levé, (bis) Bloody banner is raised, (repeat)
Entendez-vous dans les campagnes Do you hear in the countryside
Mugir ces féroces soldats ? Those ferocious soldiers roaring?
Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras They come up to your arms
Égorger vos fils, vos compagnes ! To slit the throats of your sons and wives!
Aux armes, citoyens, To arms, citizens,
Formez vos bataillons, Form your battalions,
Marchons, marchons ! Let's march, let's march!
Qu'un sang impur May an impure blood
Abreuve nos sillons ! Water our furrows!
Que veut cette horde d'esclaves, What does this horde of slaves,
De traîtres, de rois conjurés ? Of traitors and conjured kings want?
Pour qui ces ignobles entraves, For whom are these ignoble trammels,
Ces fers dès longtemps préparés ? (bis) These long-prepared irons? (repeat)
Français, pour nous, ah ! quel outrage Frenchmen, for us, ah! What outrage
Quels transports il doit exciter ! What fury it must arouse!
C'est nous qu'on ose méditer It is we whom they dare plan
De rendre à l'antique esclavage ! To return to ancient slavery!
Aux armes, citoyens… To arms, citizens…
Quoi ! des cohortes étrangères What! Foreign cohorts
Feraient la loi dans nos foyers ! Would make law in our homes!
Quoi ! ces phalanges mercenaires What! These mercenary phalanxes
Terrasseraient nos fiers guerriers ! (bis) Would strike down our proud warriors! (repeat)
Grand Dieu ! par des mains enchaînées Great God ! By chained hands
Nos fronts sous le joug se ploieraient Our heads would bow under the yoke
De vils despotes deviendraient Vile despots would become
Les maîtres de nos destinées ! The masters of our destinies!
Aux armes, citoyens… To arms, citizens…
Tremblez, tyrans et vous perfides Tremble, tyrants and you traitors
L'opprobre de tous les partis, The shame of all parties,
Tremblez ! vos projets parricides Tremble! Your parricidal schemes
Vont enfin recevoir leurs prix ! (bis) Will finally receive their prizes! (repeat)
Tout est soldat pour vous combattre, Everyone is a soldier to combat you
S'ils tombent, nos jeunes héros, If they fall, our young heroes,
La terre en produit de nouveaux, The earth produces new ones,
Contre vous tout prêts à se battre ! Against you, all ready to fight!
Aux armes, citoyens… To arms, citizens…
Français, en guerriers magnanimes, Frenchmen, as magnanimous warriors,
Portez ou retenez vos coups ! Bear or hold back your blows!
Épargnez ces tristes victimes, Spare these sorry victims,
À regret s'armant contre nous. (bis) Arming against us with regrets. (repeat)
Mais ces despotes sanguinaires, But these bloodthirsty despots,
Mais ces complices de Bouillé, But these accomplices of Bouillé,
Tous ces tigres qui, sans pitié, All these tigers who, mercilessly,
Déchirent le sein de leur mère ! Rip their mother's breast!
Aux armes, citoyens… To arms, citizens…
Amour sacré de la Patrie, Sacred love of the Fatherland,
Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs Lead, support our avenging arms
Liberté, Liberté chérie, Liberty, cherished Liberty,
Combats avec tes défenseurs ! (bis) Fight with thy defenders! (repeat)
Sous nos drapeaux que la victoire Under our flags, victory shall
Accoure à tes mâles accents, Hurry to thy manly accents,
Que tes ennemis expirants Thy expiring enemies shall,
Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire ! See thy triumph and our glory!
Aux armes, citoyens… To arms, citizens…
(Couplet des enfants) (Children's Verse)
Nous entrerons dans la carrière[3] We shall enter in the (military) career
Quand nos aînés n'y seront plus, When our elders are no longer there,
Nous y trouverons leur poussière There we shall find their dust
Et la trace de leurs vertus (bis) And the trace of their virtues (repeat)
Bien moins jaloux de leur survivre Much less jealous to survive them
Que de partager leur cercueil, Than to share their coffins,
Nous aurons le sublime orgueil We shall have the sublime pride
De les venger ou de les suivre Of avenging or following them
Aux armes, citoyens… To arms, citizens…
Now we know know what the Frogs mean when they call themselves to "arms" – and Domenech is Spanish and half the team are Algerian.
Ireland played them off the pitch in Paris.
@Steve. I’ll grant you the differing nature of how soccer and rugby games are played makes it difficult to draw comparisons, but if soccer restricted video technology solely to disputed goals & penalty claims that would suffice.
Given the amount of diving that goes on it would, for arguments sake, possibly take 6 hours for any TMO to deal with any game involving Didier Drogba.
The rugby incident you refer to was the infamous “Hand of Back” affair at the ERC Final in 2002, not sure if a TMO was in operation then, but the ref. didn’t call it in the first place – unless he or an official draw attention to an incident then it won’t be referred to. In most cases the Rugby TMO is only called upon to adjudicate actual scores rather than play
Fully agree with you regarding the mentality of cheating in soccer. Yet as a multi-billion euro business there seem to be many who dismiss acts such as Henrys’ as being “part of the game”. Roy Keane being the latest so-called professional to condone such acts.
In rugby, despite – or sometimes because of – the presence of a TMO there still are heated arguments about try-line decisions, the TMO doesn’t call on offside or other fouls, only the officials on the pitch call them. If something such as Bloodgate happens, then its up to the Match Commissioner to decide later on what to do. Soccer also has such an official but they seem more pre-occupied with chants from the terraces. GAA already has 7 officials per match, interestingly Michel Platini has introduced the Goal Umpires at Europa League games – could have done with them on Wednesday in Paris.
If the soccer fraternity would prefer the hit-and-miss approach to dubious scores, then yet more unfair calls and cheating will become as commonplace as the diving and exaggerated injury antics already ruining the game as a contact sport. Relying on officials who may decide it’s wiser to turn a blind eye to an obvious foul in the hope of landing a prestige trip to participate at a World Cup is putting far too much trust in human nature.
Listening to some soccer “pros” it’s clear they are blasé about cheating and have more interest in maintaining their outlandish salaries rather than cleaning up the game from within.
It also helps if your team or country are part of the favoured elite when it comes to dealing with the Kangaroo Court of FIFA, while I now tend to side with view that a re-match is not alone never going to happen, but that Ireland had squandered enough chances in the second-half alone last Wednesday to render extra-time unnecessary in the first place.
But soccer as a sport had better be careful of how its perception as a “Fair Play” game is being tarnished on a weekly basis. One day it may rank with Cycling in the eyes of an increasingly cynical public.
@Darrio. So now we're Racists for criticising Henry? Best you can do? Really, for someone who is probably among the 11% of French people who feel their sides victory was honorable and deserved, it's hardly surprising you resort to such depths.
Enjoy Afrique du Sud mon ami, if you play against Argentina in Johannesburg in the Fair Play Cup remember Ellis Park is always good for an exhibition of good ball handling.
Merci pour La Marseillaise, an inspiring anthem reflecting liberty, equality and fraternity. Not a mention of integrity but why spoil a good tune.
And at least when we found out our horse had cheated at the Olympics, we shot him :lol: …. bon chance – even though you won't need it with Platini in the stands.
sign the new petition! http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=186246796923
And now they are deservedly the laughing stock of the world and one of the worst teams ever to disgrace the history of the game. And all shame to the FIFA shysters with their dismantling of everything that was good and watchable in this sadly decayed game.
We'll drink to that C. In fact, we'll drink to anything over here. France qualified for the WC with dishonour, played with dishonour and now they will travel home with dishonour. Irish middleweight Darren O'Neill, a school teacher by trade, lost out to a Russian in the Elite European Championships final at the Ice Palace in Moscow recently. Irish coach Billy Walsh said he couldn't have asked for anything more from O'Neill – who had to settle for a silver medal – that he had left absolutely everything in the ring. In contrast, at least five French players didn't give a rattling fuck against Mexico the other night. And when Mexico rammed home a second goal the France coach leaned against the dugout and didn't move from that position for at least five minutes. He gave no reaction to conceding a goal. There's nonchalance and there's not giving a fuck. Many of the younger players on the Irish squad desperately wanted to experience playing in the WC. They were in tears after the injustice of Paris. We would not have won the WC, but like O'Neill in Moscow we would have left everything in the ring. The sooner it is confirmed that this French side are on their way home from South Africa the better. They are an affront to their nation and to the integrity of sport. And what about our neighbours. Some of them are on 150,000 a week sterling and they can't string two 10 yard passes together. Congratulations to Algeria, who of course once had the great Albert Camus playing in goals – in between winning the Nobel Prize for Literature – for them.