Cup berth ‘handed’ to French

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This article was published 20/11/2009 (6173 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DUBLIN, Ireland — Soccer-mad Ireland is fighting mad — and demanding justice for a disputed goal that had fans here crying, “Oui were robbed.”

A blown call by referees cost the luckless Irish a spot in the World Cup in a loss to star-studded France.

Ireland played the game of its life Wednesday night in a Paris stadium rocking to the cheers of visiting Irish fans. But with momentum on their side and facing a penalty shootout within minutes, the Irish saw the ball fall near their goal — and into the outstretched palm of celebrated French striker Thierry Henry.

He slapped it not once but twice, guiding it to his foot and passing to teammate William Gallas for the winning overtime goal. Ireland’s squad slapped their hands and some screamed, “Handball, ref!”

Keeping your hands off the ball is the most basic rule in soccer, and endless replays demonstrated beyond doubt to billions worldwide that the goal should not have counted. But the Swedish referee, Martin Hansson, and his assistants claimed to see nothing wrong, inspiring fury and conspiracy theories on the streets of Dublin.

More than one Dublin tabloid christened it the “Hand of Frog” — wordplay using slang for a Frenchman and comparing the event to another hand ball, the goal by Argentina’s Diego Maradona against England in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final.

Henry quickly came clean about his sleight of hand, well aware that no video review can keep him from soccer’s grandest stage in June.

“I will be honest: It was a handball,” Henry said. “But I’m not the ref. I played it, the ref allowed it.”

Some accused FIFA, the Swiss-based world governing body of soccer, of bending its rules to suit the sport’s big guns like France because of the money and markets involved. France, a country of 65 million, won the world championship in 1998 and were runners-up in 2006. Ireland, population 4.4 million, chronically struggles even to qualify.

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen said he would lobby his French counterpart, President Nicolas Sarkozy, at a European Union summit in Brussels.

The Football Association of Ireland filed formal demands to both FIFA and the French soccer federation for a replay. Cowen and soccer leaders both appealed to France’s sense of honour — and acknowledged the long odds for a rematch.

In Paris, more than 80,000 voted in an online Le Monde newspaper poll asking whether France deserved to go to next year’s World Cup in South Africa. Most said no, that the Irish should go instead.

— The Associated Press