Pillar of the game is reduced to a figure of ridicule
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Friday November 20 2009
WEBSITES were flooded with messages attacking French captain Thierry Henry even after he apologised to the Irish via his Twitter page.
The French superstar last night said sorry to Irish fans for his handball that led to our dramatic exit from the World Cup.
"I'm not the referee. . . But if I hurt someone I'm sorry," he said on his Twitter page, after a day when he enduring the most scathing criticism of his career.
A Facebook site set up just yesterday entitled 'We Irish hate Thierry Henry (Cheat)' had accumulated more than 50,000 followers last night.
Overwhelming
Another page on the site called 'Thierry Henry should apologise to Ireland' acquired more than 10,000 friends, while Bebo sites along the same lines were also set up.
Leading French daily newspaper 'Le Monde' ran an online poll -- 'Does France deserve to be in South Africa?' An overwhelming 83pc of people had said 'non' as of last night.
The extent of the animosity towards the twice-nominated World Player of the Year has been ferocious, with sports commentators labelling him "a cheat" and "a thief".
Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni said yesterday that it was a bad day for the "integrity and credibility" of football.
When asked about the whereabouts of morality in the sport -- with one of the game's biggest ambassadors failing to own up to such deceit on the world stage -- he said that "the world would be a better place if everybody thought like that".
The incident has been placed on a par with Diego Maradona's infamous moment of madness when his 'hand of God' punched the ball into the net and helped send England home from the World Cup in 1986.
And if Henry thought he might get some respite in his home country from the barrage of abuse that has been aimed at him from all over the world -- he should have thought twice.
Even the French media have lambasted their side's captain, with France's biggest-selling national sports newspaper 'L'Equipe' splashing with the line 'La Main de Dieu' meaning 'Hand of God' on its front page.
The newspaper 'France Soir' said victory for Les Bleus came "as a climax at the end of an unbearable game and thanks to a handball that will be the focus of debate for the days ahead."
The main headline of 'Le Figaro' reads 'Henry: I am not the referee'. The paper quotes the former Arsenal player as saying: "I am not going to lie -- there was hand.
"The ball hit my hand and I continued to play. The referee didn't blow his whistle and there was a goal.
"Obviously I would have preferred that things panned out differently but I am not the official. I do not think we have stolen qualification."
- Colin Gleeson
Irish Independent
