Warning f o o t b a l l content

[AndyL]

Referee!!!!


Handball!!!!!!!!

[MREGAN]

Shocking call! After the officals had a great game.

[Jonnyc]

Scumbag, how he can show his face after getting a goal like that is beyond me.

He would gain far more respect if he owned up to the ref, or commanded his team to let the republic equalise unchallenged.

Winning by cheating is worthless

[Jonnyc]

Scumbag, how he can show his face after getting a goal like that is beyond me.

He would gain far more respect if he owned up to the ref, or commanded his team to let the republic equalise unchallenged.

Winning by cheating is worthless

[ciaran-77]

Watched the game, as said I also thought the officials largely got it right. Was a shocking decision on henry though, you couldn't even argue ball to hand and how he sat down on the pitch beside Dunn at the end with a straight face I don't know. But in the overall scheme of things Ireland had a brilliant first half but the second half they ran out of steam and ideas and just gave the ball back to france too much by playing the long ball. Keane should have done better on a couple of occasions and could easily have went down for a penalty, but then cheating gets you nowhere ;). Bad decision but I thought over two legs france shaded it and it was always going to be a hell of an upset for Ireland to get through, mind you France have had better sides and that was a golden opportunity ruined by a bad decision.

I'll be supporting the Kiwis this year

[barry_kellett99]

Watched the game, as said I also thought the officials largely got it right. Was a shocking decision on henry though, you couldn't even argue ball to hand and how he sat down on the pitch beside Dunn at the end with a straight face I don't know. But in the overall scheme of things Ireland had a brilliant first half but the second half they ran out of steam and ideas and just gave the ball back to france too much by playing the long ball. Keane should have done better on a couple of occasions and could easily have went down for a penalty, but then cheating gets you nowhere ;). Bad decision but I thought over two legs france shaded it and it was always going to be a hell of an upset for Ireland to get through, mind you France have had better sides and that was a golden opportunity ruined by a bad decision.

I'll be supporting the Kiwis this year

I dunno, over 2 legs france only outplayed Ireland for the second 45 minutes in Croke Park.

last night Ireland were the first to every ball and played some great stuff.


The proof is in the number of vital saves each goal keeper had to make over the 2 games. The french keeper was excellent and kept them in it with several excellent saves.

I dont want to discuss the handball or I will be buying a new monitor when mine gets kicked off the desk

[acullen626]

Not that i support ireland but now there is really no team to support through the world cup.Apart from England but who'd wana support them!!!Terrible Ref!they definitly should have a video ref in footbal. or do they?

[MrNuts]

Its only a game lads

[MREGAN]

Its only a game lads
I have slowly but surely realised this as I get older. I use to be a massive footie fan. Traveling every other week. Now I couldnt care less. Yes its good to watch at times and enjoy but when it takes over your life it gets a bit too much. I much prefer MTB'n taking over my life now.

I am an Ireland fan and I was hoping we got to the world cup. Mainly because I have a sister in South Africa and I would have went to see it. She is project manager on one of the stadiums to be used in the world cup. Tickets wouldnt have been a problem. So thats what makes it even more of a dissapointment.

I wouldnt mind so much loosing to a good france team but they were poor. Playing better football and being the better team over the two legs then going out on a goal like that was crap.

Anyway! Means I wont be in the house in the summer watching matches I will be out on the bike.

[Jonnyc]

Now the dust has settled and the fact remains nothing is going to change, Henry should make a public apology to the Irish team and supporters for his action.

Of course it may have not meant the result would have been any different, but he should acknowledge it is a bad way to gain a goal.

[andyh]

Just another example of where they should be using the same technology as rugby. All this crap about it spoiling the game and causing delays is no more valid for footie than rugby.

Even though I'm english i was still supporting ireland last night and was gutted for them. Cheating frenchies should be thrown out.

And another thing, Platini has always got plenty to say when it comes to other countires so why so quiet now ?

[kylemalco]

Ill be honest I support Northern Ireland and Arsenal, I had great respect for henry even after he went to barcelona. I cant believe he didnt go straight to the referee and say was delibrate hand ball. It makes a mockery of football FIFA is a corrupt organisation, working to its own ends, the poor referee didnt make decision all night if he wasnt sure he let play go on. raymond domench shouldnt be a football manager, for in all honesty teams like the republic and serbia shouldnt be able to compete with france as france due to there "empire", are able to poach players from africa

[mprules]

Rugby if anything has more cheating in it so not sure about all this talk,

All blacks being the best example they are the best team in the world (world cups excluded) because they cheat and are good at it.

[MrNuts]

Still only a game tho!

[barry_kellett99]

Still only a game tho!

Yes, Most of the time. But there is more to it in this case.

The effect on the general population of a country who is in "world cup fever" can be massive.
Take the republic of Ireland in 1990... Its the opinion of a lot of people that the teams performance in Italy went a long way to giving the people a great deal of belief in themselves and helped change the stereotypical image of ireland both within and outside the country.

[Jonnyc]

Still only a game tho!

It's not really nowadays when you consider the amount of money and people involved. Things like this have far reasching consequences with Ireland now missing out on millions of euros worth of income which could have been used in developing the game in Ireland and hiring coaches, creating new facilities to benefit the country.

Not to mention the money people paid to be there as supporters.

Football is a global business and with the amount of money at risk for a losing team, it needs to have tight regulations to ensure fairness and opportunity for all.

[MrNuts]

Yeah but it wasn't last night that they didn't qualify, it was the general performance over the group stages, if they had played better for the rest of the matches then the hand ball incident would not have mattered.

The world cup will be more interesting now with France in it tho

[mprules]

It's not really nowadays when you consider the amount of money and people involved. Things like this have far reasching consequences with Ireland now missing out on millions of euros worth of income which could have been used in developing the game in Ireland and hiring coaches, creating new facilities to benefit the country.

Not to mention the money people paid to be there as supporters.

Football is a global business and with the amount of money at risk for a losing team, it needs to have tight regulations to ensure fairness and opportunity for all.


Should more questions not be asked why such importance is placed on the game rather than the outcome of said games?




lgmc

[stu01]

Unbelievable, not really a big football fan but I really would have liked to see Ireland in S.Africa.