Henry handball versus Ireland: Thierry Henry isn’t going to be welcome in Ireland for some time after this blatant handball. William Gallas finishes off an Henry pass after he used his hand to prevent the soccer ball from going out of bounds and then makes the pass across the goalmouth to Gallas. Can you blame Henry for using his hand in this situation? Would you have used your hand? It was almost instinctual…Henry’s handball…
This isn’t just some friendly match either, this was for a place in the World Cup in South Africa. I think we’ll see instant replay come into play in world soccer very soon. No Irish luck this year though for the boys in green. It’s not exactly like Maradona’s handball in the World Cup match versus England, the Hand of God, but in terms of importance it’s maybe even a greater handball.
They’re now calling the handball by Henry The Hand of Fraud and The Hand of Frog. This is what Thierry Henry had to say:
The Barcelona striker said: “The ball hit my hand, I will be honest. It was a handball, you can clearly see it. (Sebastien) Squillaci went to jump with two Irish players, I was behind him and the next thing I know the ball hit my hand.
“It was a handball, but I’m not the ref. I told (the referee) but he said to me the same: ‘You are not the ref.'”
Ironically, if Platini’s brainchild of having two extra assistants behind the goal, which the Frenchman is trialling in the Europa League, had been in action, Henry’s handball would have been detected and the UEFA chief’s countrymen prevented from progressing.
Ireland’s goalkeeper Shay Given talks about THAT Henry handball Ireland suffered during their World Cup qualification match and what went down in the dressing room after the game.