Latest World Cup Blog Updates |  |
- The Hand of Henry: What They Said.
- Algeria Takes The Champs-Élysées. Next: The World!
- The 32 Teams of the 2010 World Cup
- Daily Dose: November 18th, 2009.
- Thierry Henry Handballs France into World Cup 2010. Would You Have Done the Same?
- World Cup Playoffs Live Chit Chat
- Soundoff: Your Football Team’s Biggest International Rival?
| The Hand of Henry: What They Said. Posted: 19 Nov 2009 04:10 AM PST
“We suffered for two years, we have been having some problems with our press, our fans, with other people It would have been better to do it in another way, but as I said, I’m not the ref.” “If they had got through it wouldn’t have been robbery (lucky). We have a lot of respect for this team,” Henry said. “We knew they play long and like a physical battle. You saw tonight that they are a very good team. I played eight years in England and I can tell you they are.” Sebastien Squillaci (French defender): “It’s part of the game, it played in our favour tonight, maybe some other time it will play against us. Of course Ireland will not he happy but we are happy the referee awarded the goal. We’re competitors and we’re there to win. The goal may not be valid but we’ll take it.” Giovanni Trapattoni (Ireland coach): “I told the referee that it is possible to make great mistakes. I am sad because the referee had time to ask the linesman and I am sure he should have asked Henry as well.” “All the European people saw the game and what happened. France played a good game in Dublin but this time we played better and over the two games we deserved to go to South Africa.” Raymond Domenech (French coach): “I didn’t see the replay. From where I was, I couldn’t see anything. All I know is the referee awarded the goal.” “The referee said he was 100 per cent that he didn’t handle it and then Henry came and told us that he did. I think it’s quite blatant we were cheated. It’s not a difficult one to see, so that’s the annoying thing. “The linesman is in line with it and he should give offside to start with. Surely one of them can see it that he’s handled it, everyone else has seen it. It’s one of those that wouldn’t even need a replay. “At the stage of the game and the way it was going, it’s the biggest decision I’ve ever suffered. We deserved to win the game, we could have scored a couple of more goals. It’s one of those things. It gives them a lift and knocks the stuffing out of us. To give big decisions on that in big games is wrong. Platini wants France there.” “There’s no question or doubt in my mind, we won that game. The handball was so obvious. We’ve seen the replays, but we knew anyway from the reaction of the players.”        |
| Algeria Takes The Champs-Élysées. Next: The World! Posted: 19 Nov 2009 02:10 AM PST This is a picture of what’s currently going down in the center of Paris. No, that is not a Frenchman celebrating the lack of video replay in football. No, that is not an Irishman infuriated by the lack of integrity by one Thierry Henry. Hell, it’s not even the CEO of Caran d’Ache. (Well, it could be.) It’s actually an Algerian fan, celebrating their impending trek to South Africa on the famous Parisian street the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. The same avenue which Algerian fans ran riot over, quite literally, last evening. The carnage – not literally, the injured were removed – after the jump.   |
| The 32 Teams of the 2010 World Cup Posted: 18 Nov 2009 08:40 PM PST
The following are those 32 teams who will take part in South Africa 2010. And perhaps what’s a bit special is the 32 include every single World Cup winner in history, precisely due to the Uruguayan stand. Algeria Number of asterisks (*) indicates number of trophies won. For the draw pots, check out the Malawi World Cup Blog.   |
| Daily Dose: November 18th, 2009. Posted: 18 Nov 2009 06:40 PM PST The Algerian post-match celebrations.
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| Thierry Henry Handballs France into World Cup 2010. Would You Have Done the Same? Posted: 18 Nov 2009 04:02 PM PST Algeria, Greece, Portugal and Slovenia all won their playoffs and qualified for the World Cup today. Uruguay vs Costa Rica is happening as I type. But there’s one story that will be dominating the World Cup playoff headlines, and I think you already know what it is: Thierry Henry’s handball for France vs Ireland. With the aggregate score at 1-1 and the game halfway through extra time, penalties were just around the corner. But in the 103rd minute Thierry Henry controlled the ball and crossed for William Gallas to head home the goal that sent France to World Cup 2010 and Ireland home. Only problem is that Henry controlled the ball with his hand. Twice. To be more accurate, Henry controlled the ball on his forearm and then directed it with his hand. It was the upper body equivelant of taking the ball on your knee and then passing with your foot. There is very very little doubt in my mind that Henry handballed intentionally. So yes, Henry has cheated France into World Cup 2010. Which is absolutely disgraceful. Not just from Henry but from the refereeing team too. But before we all condemn Henry, let me ask you this. And please answer honestly: Would you have done the same? If you were fighting to get your team to World Cup 2010, wouldn’t you do everything in your power to make it happen? Even if it meant bending or breaking the rules? I’m not excusing what Henry did, and he’s definitely (to quote Kevin Keegan) gone down in my estimation tonight. But I can definitely understand why he did it.   |
| World Cup Playoffs Live Chit Chat Posted: 18 Nov 2009 11:07 AM PST
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| Soundoff: Your Football Team’s Biggest International Rival? Posted: 18 Nov 2009 08:08 AM PST
Also, it’s not always so straightforward. I’m an England fan, and I know Scotland fans would love to see Scotland beat England. But I’d love to see England beat Germany. And Germany fans seem more interested in Germany beating the Netherlands. So, rather than trying to definitively list the biggest international rivalries and get it wrong, let’s try this instead: You tell me. Please share two things in the comments: 1. Your national team. If you want to tell is why, then that works too. But please keep the reasons football related.   |
Without getting into a great deal of opinion, or any at all for that matter – there’s surely plenty of that floating about – it would probably be prudent to look into the words on each side of the divide from those who were there, at the game and directly impacted. (What with it being one of the most controversial games in World Cup Qualifying history and all.) Guys like that Henry character who’s found his name splattered all over the news for all the wrong reasons for the first time, at least it would seem, in his illustrious career. And that Trapattoni guy, who wasn’t making friends at FIFA before the incident.
Qualification is officially over. Playoffs won, tears shed, hearts broken and dreams renewed, it’s all over. After Uruguay withstood the Costa Rican pressure late in the evening, the final 32 teams were written into stone – though not without a fair bit of 
In honour of today’s Algeria vs Egypt showdown in Sudan, I had planned on putting together a Top 10 Biggest International Rivalries post. But halfway through I realized it wasn’t a great idea. Your own national team’s rivalry will always feel bigger than anyone else’s, so why include some in a Top 10 but not others? | You are subscribed to email updates from World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010 To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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