World Cup - French fans embarrassed with team

Reuters - Sun, 22 Nov 17:41:00 2009

Most people in France do not think their team deserves to be in the 2010 World Cup and did not approve of Thierry Henry's handball that helped secure a finals place, according to an opinion poll.

FOOTBALL 2009 France - Equipe - 0

Henry clearly handled the ball when setting up a late, decisive goal in the second leg of their playoff against Ireland last week, winning France a place in the World Cup finals.

But an OpinionWay poll for French state television said 81 per cent of French people did not think their national team deserved to go to South Africa given their unconvincing performances throughout the qualifying stages.

An even bigger 88 per cent said Henry was wrong to have used his hand to keep the ball in play and thereby create the vital scoring opportunity.

The contested victory has dominated French media over the past five days, with much soul searching about the notion of fair play in sport.

Henry, who has been vilified on the Internet, has denied cheating and said he wanted to see a replay against Ireland.

FIFA has ruled that the result should stand and that France rather than Ireland should take part in the World Cup.

OpinionWay pollsters questioned 1,003 people on November 20-21.

Reuters

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  1. The French are arrogant... I am actually glad that they­ are going to S Africa. Can not wait to c them getting­ hampered by other teams, and knock out in the first­ group.

    From Zino, on Sun 29 Nov 1:11PM
  2. As french, I must admit that I am very far to be proud­ of the way my team get its ticket for South Africa and­ if it was possible, I would ask for a extra support­ match, so the field law would prevail. But FIFA law­ seems to say that is is not possible for any reasons.­
    Imagine we could replay a game, because the ref did­ not take the right decision, then it would allow so­ many supporters from all over the world to ask for­ older game replay, and ammong them I guess that the­ Georgian fans would ask for a replay of their game­ versus Ireland in bebruary 2009, when Ireland had a­ penalty which allowed the green team to egalise at 1-1­ just after a hand from Robbie Keane were missed by the­ referee...
    Did anyone from the Irish team came to the­ refferee at this moment saying that the first (and only­ real fault) was an Irish one ? No !
    So asking someone­ to act in a way you are net ready to is not that fair, ­ I guess!
    And without this lucky result in this game­ Ireland would not have reached the next step of the­ qualification games... isn't it some kind of Irony­ ??
    And Still I am ashamed of this action and believe­ this is a terrible exemple for the kids, as it promotes­ cheating as a possible option for wining a game.
    I­ really support the idea of a post blame on the player­ guilty of such act.

    From Eric G, on Fri 27 Nov 7:59AM
  3. for djej in referance to your message in response to­ luca. i corect you, its false that italy doesn`t­ accept blacks. there are as many blacks as anywhere­ else. in referance to the BLACK SHIRT that was over­ 80years ago. as a result if the black shirts were still­ around there wouldm`t be any of these problems such as­ match fixing or mafia.

    From Enrico, on Wed 25 Nov 1:47PM
  4. All this talk of Irish having to get over it is­ rubbish, they were cheated big style, OK the Irish­ will have other chances in years to come, but some of­ the players will not, it was probably their only chance­ of ever taking part in the World Cup finals and­ representing their beloved country of birth. They were­ cruely cheated of this chance by a player i once­ respected but now have no time for at all. I hope his­ action hurts him severely in the pocket.

    From Ross H, on Tue 24 Nov 6:27PM
  5. Us Irish seriously need to get over this incident. The­ simple facts are that even though we played­ exceptionally well,we did not have the class of striker­ to convert the 4 easy chances we missed on the night.We­ should have walked away with at least a 3.0­ scoreline.France were rocked and we should have­ destroyed them.We also had the chance to pip a poor­ Italy team in the qualifying group.
    Our other problem­ was that we only had rubbish substitutes to bring on­ and they were awful.We had much better alternatives­ that didnt even make the squad
    We were not good­ enough.End of story.Lets get behind England now as they­ have their best chance since 66

    From thomas352487, on Tue 24 Nov 3:08PM
  6. Luca, you definitly right: there are ethnic or social­ troubles in France. And you are right that most of the­ French team players are black and therefore from other­ locations descendants... So yes they are French with­ also another country in their heart, just like the­ italian of USA, of France or everywhere else... But­ it's too easy to blame the French this way while­ your country never allowed the blacks to enter your­ country (except the black shirts maybe), We may have­ lot of players with italian origins as well... probably­ that we welcomed your people while they needed to leave­ their country... And, Lucas, your nice country and Nice­ people, it's also the country of Mafia, Match­ fixing, and diving in the penalty area etc... your­ message is useless. Ciao!

    From djej, on Tue 24 Nov 11:00AM
  7. CAN WE GET OVER IT ALREADY.... pleeeeeeze!!!!!! so the­ dude cheated and prevented penalty shoot out, Ireland­ might have won (or not), come to SA and been kicked out­ in the first round (or last last 16- i sure don't­ see them winning the WC) etc, etc. lets rather go on­ about something that will change the game for the­ better- lets bug FIFA about introducing video­ technology to assist with decision making in­ football(during and after the match). This will ensure­ that dubious decisions don't put teams at a­ disadvantage... and to the Irish... you also got a­ decision in your favour against Georgia and did not­ scream rematch so please do us all a favour and GET­ OVER IT!

    From mpumedanisa, on Tue 24 Nov 9:32AM
  8. If I were French Team Coach, I would not call Henry to­ join the team. What a shame.....!!!

    From Winata, on Tue 24 Nov 7:55AM
  9. “The day after the match and the next day, I felt­ alone, really alone,” Henry told.

    Oh poor little­ thing, and what about the millions of people from­ Ireland felt after being disqualified?

    He says: “I­ don’t think that everything I’ve achieved can be­ tarnished.” It's true, but He will be a world wide­ cheater walking on earth.

    He said "...But­ honestly, it was uncontrollable" really? check­ the video on you tube Dirty Thierry "Henry The­ Cheater" (Captain Cheater)

    And please Dirty­ Thierry DO NOT QUIT, I want you to be booed every time­ you put a foot on a soccer field!

    From Dr. Soccer Pepper, on Tue 24 Nov 6:09AM
  10. Jesus! Seeing as how you clearly love the sound of your­ own voice it's amazing anyone else manages to get a­ word in. Sadly, like most people with verbal diarrhoea,­ you talk a lot but don't actually say anything.

    From loftyj37, on Tue 24 Nov 1:19AM
  11. FIFA wants france in the WC at all cost because IT IS­­ an african team, maybe the best african team in the­­ tournament , I say it as a compliment to the players (­­ even though handy/ henry is the shame there) most of­ the­ players are good talents AFRICAN/FRENCH , ­­ AFRICAN/CARRIBEAN and ARAB/AFRICAN/FRENCH ,,the sad­ story is that in france most minority are treated­ miserably as 3rd class citizens , relegated in crappy­ almost landfill towns and put down with the worst­ cliche' stereotypes , it's only those who can­ help france win in sports that are respected , and­ france really needs help in football , if there­ was an all white/french blood team , it would probably­ be as good as albania I guess , Ribery being the best­ in there , and most of their historic white­ players were of italian descent (Platini,Cantona­ ,Ginola , Candela , Squillaci and more....) I bring up­ the ethnic discourse in here because the french­ don't admit/appreciate their multiethnic pride but­ keep talking about one country ,france without­ glorifying their foreign assimilated ethnic talents ­ ,,,,,the french must say WE ARE PROUD OF OUR­ AFRICAN/FRENCH TEAM and nothing else ,,this is the­ only way they should talk about their team , and­ I'm sure everybody agrees on this forum .... and­ they would be liked more for saying that.........Right­ ??
    the great african ancestry talent must be­ appreciated and aknowledged in any team....

    From Lucas, on Tue 24 Nov 12:57AM
  12. While I'm irish and a fan I honestly dont think­ ireland are good enough to be in the finals,however­ having said that FIFA made changes to the European­ Play-offs this time round when some of the larger­ teams,namely France,Portugal and Russia were in danger­ of being drawn against each other, by implementing a­ seeding system for the playoffs preventing that­ possibility, given FIFA's reluctance to replay the­ Ireland/France second leg you have to wonder if there­ is any point in having qualifiers and playoffs if the­ smaller teams and weaker nations arent going to get a­ fair shot at qualification anyhow.

    From kieran v, on Tue 24 Nov 12:38AM
  13. if you were french and you won the world cup, how would­ you feel knowing that you should no even be there in­ the first place. if i were the french president, i­ would demand a replay so that any victory France had­ would not be not tainted. Plus, if france were really­ in with a chance to win, they should have demolish a­ country like ireland over two legs.

    From ANDREA R, on Tue 24 Nov 12:12AM
  14. Now TH will probably score the winning Goal againts­ england in the finals of south africa and it will be­ after Rooney got a dubious penalty as he always does

    From lazygooner, on Mon 23 Nov 9:55PM
  15. Such a shame they go to the world cup because of a­ cheat!

    From Ciaran, on Mon 23 Nov 4:41PM
  16. the only right thing that ,,LES BLEUS,, are doing is­ that their digging their own grave. BONJOUR ET BONNE­ NUIT.

    From Enrico, on Mon 23 Nov 3:25PM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    adrianeaucaramba......my girlfreind never left me for a­ frenchman, she left the frenchman for me. and thats­ because she was tired of that frenchman`s armpits that­ you cauld smell from a mile away. and on top of that­ they are better handball players than being lovers.

    From Enrico, on Mon 23 Nov 2:41PM
  18. 72, gerry the difference being the English scored 4­ times and won by 2 goals...the so-called dubious­ goal-which DID cross the line- did not influence the­ final result...unlike Henry's handball.

    From Koppite 1973, on Mon 23 Nov 1:43PM
  19. This is GREAT NEWS ! Whenever the french team is­ unloved by its public and critisized by the journalists­ we just get better and better........
    Keep going like­ that and we stand a chance in this next world cup. This­ is BRILLIANT !
    1998 - players and manager were­ critisized so much and we won it.
    2006 - team was­ branded "old" and we almost won it.
    Keep­ going like that guys.......i like it !

    From rascasses83, on Mon 23 Nov 1:24PM
  20. I agree wiyh Godwin, the English did not mind that they­ won the world cup despite being awarded a goal that did­ not cross the line. Really when you come to think of it­ the English and the French are alike in that aspect,­ we
    ll according to Godwin.

    From GERRY, on Mon 23 Nov 12:57PM
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