'What the hell is Richie Dunne sitting next to that prick for?" It was a question several fans next to me were asking after the final whistle in the Stade de France on Wednesday. "Surely he should either be blanking him or thumping him?" It may prove to be a difficult thing to explain, but in the game in which he clearly excels, Thierry Henry has done nothing out of the ordinary. He did exactly what we would expect any of our players to do, and given the prize at stake, it's exactly what they would have done.

During any game, there are three principal ways to cheat -- deliberately break the rules, accidentally break them but fail to admit to it, or stick within the rules but go against the spirit of the game (eg gamesmanship). By definition, Henry is a cheat. End of discussion.

Much has been made of FIFA's fair play code this week, but in all the years I played, I don't remember any manager of mine even mention its existence, let alone actually refer to its contents. Actually, there were several occasions in which acts of sportsmanship were actively discouraged. I was constantly reminded that I was being paid to win matches rather then simply compete in them.

During the half-time break in one particular game, I remember being nearly eaten alive by the coach for something I did off the ball about 10 minutes into the game. Having clumsily knocked Ian Dowie to the ground with an elbow, I innocently reached out my hand to help him to his feet, which he gratefully accepted. It was something I never did again after that.

Whether to return the ball to the opposition after they had kicked it out of play depended entirely on the mood of the manager that day. While such an attitude would disgust many, it is worth noting the extent to which that particular act of sportsmanship is now widely abused by players everywhere. Staying down on the ground expecting the ball to be put out of play is now a tactic to prevent an opponent from counter-attacking.

During one such incident in a reserve game against Bournemouth, one of the Millwall lads accidentally kicked the ball straight over the opposing keeper's head and into the net when returning possession to them. The Bournemouth dug-out were going nuts, as were their players. The referee could do nothing as no rules were broken. It was hilarious watching from the stand. In what was one of the most memorable sporting gestures I've seen, the coach instructed the players to allow the Bournemouth players to run the length of the pitch unchallenged and equalise. It eventually made it onto A Question of Sport in the 'what happened next?' round.

It's one thing having such principles in a relatively meaningless reserve game, but no such decision would have been taken by Domenech the other night, particularly with the away goals rule in play. If Henry had decided to take matters into his own hands and confess all to the referee at the time, what kind of welcome do you think he would have received upon his return to the French dressing room, particularly by the senior players who will not feature in the 2014 World Cup? How would French fans greet him the next time he is out and about in Paris? And despite their elimination from the World Cup, just how comforted would Platini, the French FA and all their fans be by the fact the integrity and decency of the game they love has been upheld at the very highest level?

Everyone from Kevin Kilbane to Kevin Doyle has at several stages in their career benefited from the failure of match officials to see everything on the pitch, or from the ability of players to deceive them. As with injuries, suspensions, defeats and victories, returning to your dressing room feeling hard done by is very much a part of your job.

The decision by FIFA to seed the draw, and our failure to beat the French in normal time have added greatly to the sense of injustice, but nothing happened on Wednesday which hasn't happened a thousand times before. Henry's statement that a replay would be a fair outcome came too late to make any difference, and he knew it. He had his opportunity to make an impact on Wednesday and depending on your point of view, he either took it or he bottled it by staying quiet and joining his team-mates in celebration.

If FIFA had insisted on the two sides meeting again, they would have set a precedent whereby any incorrect decision by a match official which affected the outcome of a game would lead to demands for replays everywhere. Bemused by all the fuss that had been made of it, Roy Keane's hilarious rant on Friday instructed us all to 'get over it'. While going on to discuss a separate, unrelated issue which happened over seven years ago suggested he would do well to do the same, he was right in saying we only had ourselves to blame for not qualifying. Deep down, I think that's what hurts the most.

richard.sadlier @gmail.com

- Richard Sadlier

Sunday Independent