World Cup - Henry Q&A: I'm not the ref

Eurosport - Thu, 19 Nov 08:51:00 2009

An unrepentant Thierry Henry refused to accept responsibility for putting Ireland out of the World Cup, insisting that he is "not the referee".

Henry handball - 0

Q: It was difficult for France. Were you afraid? 

Thierry Henry: Yes, because the Irish team played well. It was not evident before. We had said that they were a difficult team to play, but the win over there turned out to be dominant. It was difficult to press them: that was our purpose but every time they had a free-kick, the goalkeeper sent the ball deep into our half. It was not a beautiful game, it will not go down in history for its quality. The Irish team could have scored another goal two or three times: fortunately for us, we had a great goalkeeper (in Hugo Lloris) on Wednesday evening. We hope he will continue to play like that. 

You qualified thanks to a goal of great controversy...   

Yes, that is true. But what is done is done. I admit it: there was a hand. The referee did not see it.

Many Irish people are going to say that France qualified because they cheated. 

I am not the referee. The ball touched my hand. I am honest, there was a hand. 

Is that what you told Richard Dunne at the end of the game? 

Yes, I told him. But he told me the exact same thing: "You are not the referee." As it all happened Sebastien Squillaci was fighting with two players, the ball came to me and touched my hand. I played it. And the referee gave the goal.

To qualify in that way is unusual. Is your pleasure spoiled by this?

We suffered for two years. We had problems with our supporters, the press... It would have been better to win our ticket for South Africa in a different way but, once again, I repeat: I am not the referee. 

Raymond Domenech has spoken about subdued enjoyment in the dressing room. 

This Irish team did not prove unworthy. In the end if they had qualified, they wouldn't have stolen the spot. Our enjoyment has been measured because we have a lot of respect for this team.

Is it in these kinds of game that a team is forged? 

We've played quite a lot of games like this one since the beginning of qualifying. I hope that we can learn from it. After the victory in Ireland our performance was played down, journalists saying that they were not a good team. I kept repeating the opposite. You saw on Wednesday that it was true. I played for eight years in England, I can tell you that Ireland have a good team. 

For your part, don't you think France played poorly over the last few games? 

No. Ireland played well. We are not alone on the grass. Ireland played very well for over an hour and a half. You need to accept that. But the most important thing is qualifying. 

Eurosport

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  1. So far so good...the irish team played one of their­ best football ever in france..they had every­ oppourtunity to kill the game wit begging chances which­ where wasted...do we say they paid the price for­ that????? HT has agreed that the ball was a hand ball­ nd apologised nd yet he has been called names for­ handling the ball....Someone jst remainded me that­ players are supposed to play to the whistle which the­ irish defenders did nt do...do we blame them for­ that????? We have seen in the premiershp obvious goals­ disallowed nd penality giving when there r no fouls­ commited..one team or the other stand to benefit from­ the refrees decissions weather good or bad...The­ obvious question is what will you say if ur country­ finds themselves in france's position with HT as­ the captain????

    From Adeniyi, on Sat 21 Nov 11:10AM

  2. l don't understand why people get worried about­ trivial issues. This is football and any thing at all­ could happen. The question we shd keep asking is that­ did TH hand the ball intentionally? well only God­ knowns. Therefore if TH has admitted handball but not­ done intentionally, we have to forgive him and let the­ matter closed. Saying it too much and accusing either­ FIFA,France or TH is waste of time and at the same time­ would not help the young kid learning to become future­ footballers.
    John, London

    From John, on Fri 20 Nov 6:55PM

  3. Dale Dale Dale. You've got a nerve calling me­ mentally disturbed. You're petty rants trying to­ justify yourself are pathetic in the extreme. In FACT­ that's all you can do. Name-call. And by the way I­ was right behind France when they won the World Cup but­ I look and listen objectively. Not like you and you­ obviously are a Gooner. That's where all the thumbs­ down come from. Gooners upset that one of their­ 'heroes' has been shown to be a cheat

    From N, on Fri 20 Nov 6:33PM

  4. Henry is not the ref. blame the ref and his assistants.­ they know what went wrong.the game of foot ball is luck­ sometimes. The Irish played v well. Honestly if a re­ match is on the boys in green cannot win it. Let us not­ blame T.H for this. The Irish should be proud, I am­ proud of the team myself. We all look up to FIFA­ decission. Pls lets stop cretisising Henry. Remember­ the Irish and the French are there to win. do huge­ number of Irish would have travel to su da fric, the­ French are not realy good for business.
    Dan Ireland

    From immac.2000, on Fri 20 Nov 5:39PM

  5. FIFA MUST CHANGE THE RULES NOT ONLY THAT WE DONT NEED­ BLIND REFEREE ONTHE GROUND AND PUNISHIMENT MUST BE PUT­ IN PLACE KIND OF THIS REFEREE MAY PRETENT THEY DIDNT­ SEE ANYTHING BUT THE TRUTH THE REFEREE WANTED FRANCE TO­ QUALIFY NOT IRISH

    From victor, on Fri 20 Nov 4:49PM

  6. Blame referee because Henry has no problem,is a player­ like others and that thing is normal.France ooooooo

    From TukahirwaU, on Fri 20 Nov 2:38PM

  7. Agreed, Henry used his hand but Rule No. 5 of FIFA is­ so clear " Referee decision is final" so why­ blame the poor guy when his is not in a position to­ decide what happens in the field of play. This is­ where the element of luck comes in in every­ game.

    Austin Edafe
    Lagos - Nigeria

    From Austin, on Fri 20 Nov 2:22PM

  8. The problem with this handball there was both­ unintentional bit with the first touch, but when you­ look at the second touch it is so deliberate henry­ 's hand surely controls the ball towards his leg to­ kick it to gallas by the way even gallas himself was­ close to scoring with his hand as all the french team­ in the box in some way or another handled that ball, i­ think it was planned when you really analyse it. bit i­ knew it would come to that as the irish did not take­ thier chances yet they played so brilliant never mind i­ do not think france will progress further i bet they­ will not progress past the group stages like in 2002­ because they are such a poor team with old talent and­ no solidarity which they had in 98 WC. SO cheer p stop­ crying for spolit milk get ready for the next­ competition.

    From estaher.abangi, on Fri 20 Nov 1:49PM

  9. well at the end of the day africans will take the WC no­ matter who comes bring them on whether french or irish­ or english it wo'nt be easy spain might try because­ they are too good but believe me this time africans­ wil show thier talents history repeats itself­ colonialists stole everything from africa with out­ cameras this time we are all watching lets see how they­ will steal the WC from us. show them corte di voire

    From estaher.abangi, on Fri 20 Nov 1:38PM

  10. Why complain about TH. When Crouch did the same to­­ Trindad and Tobago who talked? We were all happy­ England­ won. But the truth is he cheated. It broke the­ hearts of­ Trindad, When TH does it everyone wants a­ replay and­ apology. Let get Crouch to do the same to­ the millions­ who lost on their bets

    From mwambas, on Fri 20 Nov 1:27PM

  11. Why complain about TH. When Crouch did the same to­ Trindad and Tobago who talked we were all happy England­ won. But the true is he cheated. It broke the hearts of­ Trindad, When TH does it everyone wants a replay and­ apology. Let get Crouch to do the same to the millions­ who lost on there bets

    From mwambas, on Fri 20 Nov 1:25PM

  12. YAWN.

    From Delberto Gooner, on Fri 20 Nov 1:19PM

  13. Be proud of your team Kieran l, but we English are far­ prouder or our 'qualifying' team, and that­ includes our "black african" players!

    From Dan H, on Fri 20 Nov 12:34PM

  14. Ireland going through would have a been a waste of time­ anyway. At least France actually have chance of winning­ the whole thing.

    From Dan H, on Fri 20 Nov 12:23PM
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Cheat the french team.....sucker they are

    From zayd, on Fri 20 Nov 12:10PM

  16. Let's see what FIFA would do over this matter.if­ they don't see anything wrong with it then it means­ we should look out for more hands of god scoring­ goals.Nevertheless,Henry should not be blamed as­ he's not the ref.I honestly sympathize with the­ Irish.

    From Idowu, on Fri 20 Nov 10:29AM

  17. Let's see what FIFA would do over this matter.if­ they don't see anything wrong with it then it means­ we should look out for more hands of god scoring­ goals.Nevertheless,Henry should not be blamed as­ he's not the ref.I honestly sympathize with Irish.

    From Idowu, on Fri 20 Nov 10:29AM

  18. what is done is done..If Irish better why they lost at­ home? on ur face Irish!

    From Atras, on Fri 20 Nov 7:48AM

  19. This is another "hand of God" Can somebody­ shout Halleluyaaa please........Amen.
    Toyin­ Adedokun,
    Zaria, Nigeria

    From toyin, on Fri 20 Nov 5:01AM

  20. Maradona's hand of God, Henry's hand­ assist,Keane's handball, diving.kicking a player­ and faking injury, kicking the ball out of play and­ rushing to take the cornerkick,deliberate and malicious­ elbowing... All players are guilty of at least one of­ these or similar acts at one time or another There is­ no foul or cheating in football except the­ referee's whistle says so. Any act on the pitch­ that escapes the attention of the referee and his two­ assistants remains an advantage. The rules even give­ the referee the discretion to allow play to continue on­ the basis of an advantage when there is a clear foul.I­ sympathise with Ireland but such is football

    From CHUKWUKA, on Fri 20 Nov 4:16AM
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