French cheats!

Originally posted by trev33
russia top 15 in world rankings, semis of the euros last year, out. beaten by slovenia, not even in the euros a couple of years ago who finished second in one of the weakest groups and ranked forty something in the world rankings. i didn't like the fact that it was a seeded draw but the 'top 4' team weren't guaranteed a place in the finals, which was shown to ...[text shortened]... eir place in the finals. france do not, since the 2006 world cup final they have been pants.

Hard to believe that Russia didn't make it. Is there any way to reverse time and replay the game? No Arshavin or Billyaletdinov in SA.

Have to disagree about the first game though. They had at least 5 more chances to score and finish off Slovenia right then. The second game was a disaster.

The post that was quoted here has been removed

Spot on.

Originally posted by trev33
sick.

i used to respect henry a lot, not anymore... what a cheating bastard. i hope he gets his legs broken playing for bace, he doesn't deserve to go to the world cup... the whole french team don't, they were terrible.

benzema not playing a minute of the tie? will be shocked if domenech is in charge in s. africa.

what a f$$&*^£^%king joke... twice ...[text shortened]... ket you name it they use some form of technology to decide seriously dodgy plays.

AGHH!!!!

Henry cheated us out of the last World Cup and now again the same to you guys. He's a classless hypocrite.

Originally posted by Traveling Again
I didn't see the match, only the highlight footage. It was an obvious handling of the ball, but
can Henry really be blamed? It was worth a try to sneak one past the officials, right? He
probably expected it would be whistled, and there was nothing to lose by giving it a go as the
ball was flying helplessly and peacefully past the post. Ok, ...[text shortened]... win. I can't accept
victory if I didn't earn it the way it should be earned."

The problem is that Henry is always posing and pretending he is full of class and above such things. Also, Domenech is always blaring about how other teams are cheaters (did it to us and to Italy on several occasions) and know just whistles into the air. Hypocrisy at its worst.

Originally posted by Fleabitten
Then you are far less cynical than I, my friend. My thinking Ireland had no chance has nothing to do with the comparative quality of the teams. As soon as the 'seeded pot' idea was announced, I put my money squarely on France and Portugal going through, regardless of who they drew. To Portugal's credit, they at least were the better side in their tie.

If the ref had been looking to benefit France wouldn't he have given the (real) penalty on Anelka a little before?

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now if it could happen to the scots, welsh, argies, we would give them the same sympathy in return

Originally posted by Palynka
If the ref had been looking to benefit France wouldn't he have given the (real) penalty on Anelka a little before?

Agreed on that being the easy decision to give, if the ref had wanted to. Disagreed on it being a penalty.

Overall, the ref had a good game. It's just an absolute shame that a match so important, not only to the players, but to the entire nation was decided by an officiating error. That should not be allowed to happen, and to be honest, the sport of soccer has been diminished for me after the debacle of the play-off. First they change the rules midway through the competition, then Ireland get robbed.

Irish soccer at youth levels is at an all time low. The excitement of the World Cup can lead to masses of new players joining the game. Instead, we'll have kids in schools around the country cheating and hoping to get away with it.

FIFA contend that soccer is a game of human error. I don't watch soccer to see just how good the referee is.

It happened in 66, it happened with the Hand of God, and now it's happened again. No progress in decades! I don't believe it would happen in any other sport either.

If a golfer cheated like Henry, there would be outrage, in our sport the governing body whitewash it. In any other ball sport, there'd be a video ref if needed. It needs to be sorted out!

D

Originally posted by Seitse
Spot on.

Well us English suffered from the " Hand of God" , now you Irish can suffer from the " Hand of Frog " 😏😏😏😏😏

Originally posted by phil3000
Well us English suffered from the " Hand of God" , now you Irish can suffer from the " Hand of Frog " 😏😏😏😏😏

Hey, I am not Irish 😠

Originally posted by Seitse
Hey, I am not Irish 😠

Sorry , didn't mean you : 🙂
I put this Henry business down to " the luck of the Irish "

Originally posted by phil3000
Sorry , didn't mean you : 🙂
I put this Henry business down to " the luck of the Irish "

What's at the end of the rainbow?

Originally posted by Ragnorak
Agreed on that being the easy decision to give, if the ref had wanted to. Disagreed on it being a penalty.

Overall, the ref had a good game. It's just an absolute shame that a match so important, not only to the players, but to the entire nation was decided by an officiating error. That should not be allowed to happen, and to be honest, the sport of s ...[text shortened]... n any other ball sport, there'd be a video ref if needed. It needs to be sorted out!

D

Maybe we can keep fluidity and help a bit with this issue if we had the possibility of one contention (like in tennis) per team during a game.

Originally posted by stoker
now if it could happen to the scots, welsh, argies, we would give them the same sympathy in return

No, chance if Maradona did that to us, we would count it as an honour!

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
No, chance if Maradona did that to us, we would count it as an honour!

To right " no chance "
Scotland never get to any finals to play Argentina , best stick to playing the Faroe islands .
I think Jimmy Hill should take the Scotland job with Alan Hansen as chief coach !! 😛😛😛