Handball row haunts Irish fans
Print Edition
WHEN gesticulating Ireland players raced towards Martin Hansson deep in extra time of a World Cup qualification playoff against France on November 18, 2009, the Swedish referee was not the only one to wonder what he might have missed.
The incident that had just occurred on the Stade de France pitch was almost impossible to see for the 79,145 fans in the ground and the 11 million people watching the game live on TV had to wait for a replay to realize what had happened.
The reporters covering the game soon understood they needed to rewrite their stories. The action in the 103rd minute of the second leg of that playoff was to keep them busy for days, making headlines all over the world. It will loom large in Lyon tomorrow when France and Ireland meet for a place in the quarterfinals of Euro 2016.
The next morning, French sports daily L’Equipe went for “La main de Dieu” (The hand of God), in reference to the goal Diego Maradona scored with his hand against England at the 1986 World Cup. British tabloid the Sun chose “The hand of frog” and displayed a front-page picture of the man at the center of the scandal, France captain Thierry Henry.
France was trailing 0-1 in front of its own fans after a first-half goal by striker Robbie Keane when Florent Malouda took a free-kick from the halfway line. Henry raced into the box from the left, controlled the ball with his hand to keep it in play and crossed for William Gallas, whose header gave Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given no chance. The final score read 1-1, meaning France won the tie on aggregate to seal its ticket to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
“Let me enjoy this moment,” France coach Raymond Domenech said after the game.
For Ireland fans in mourning, the atmosphere was very different. Those who were there that night tell you how they still hate hearing I Gotta Feeling, by the Black Eyed Peas, just because that song was playing in the stadium after the final whistle.
Henry, whose reputation as a fair player was shattered, soon admitted he had handled the ball and apologized.
“I am not the referee (...) but if I have hurt somebody, I’m sorry,”, he said.
Henry, who was never sanctioned, later said he contemplated retiring from international football after the incident.
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