Shame on You, Henry

Ok, so Thierry Henry has came out to admit the ball did touch his hand (but hang on, he claimed it wasn't delibrate. so can't really use the word 'admit', can i?). Do you call that honesty? Do you call that sportsmanship? Ireland were leading 1-0 at that point and both nations were tied at aggregate score of 1-1 and were playing extra time. Henry's control kept the ball in and in turn allowed William Gallas to score.


(Keane's goal for Ireland)

I still remembered when I thought P5 CME earlier this year on sportsmanship, I quoted examples such as diving for penalty and booking. Like I told the kids, thankfully, for major events there are replays and those replays will be proof for moral justice. They won't change any consequences but the 'offender' will get his due. That's the case for Henry now. He'd always been the gentlemanly type of footballer but his actions were a disgrace. Without that goal, who knows if Ireland could have scored a winner or emerge victors in penalty shootout?



Well, Henry might have had the 'burden' of his nation weighing on his mind because if he told the referee he had handled the ball and that the goal should be disallowed and if suey-suey France failed to qualify for World Cup 2010, he will incur the wrath of the entire nation. However, come to think of it, will they have any valid reason to blame Henry? He would have been upholding justice and gamesmanship and if France failed to qualify, it would've been due to the entire team, not because of him being honest. Now though, people are starting to call him a cheat and who's to say they are wrong?

Unfortunately, the Irish have suffered great injustice and despite their spirited performance, have to stomach such a cruel exit. Reports and critics are calling for some form of punishment like ban or a replay but I think the former is the likelier of the two, if there is any, at all. I may be cruel but if I'm FIFA, I would ban Henry from being selected for the upcoming World Cup. That'll be a huge punishment not only to the player himself but to the team which will lose their tails-manic player.