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French Revelations: Ball Handling – A Tale Of Thierry Henry & Hugo Lloris
Goal.com's Robin Bairner surveys the wreckage after a damaging night for French football that somehow ended up with les Bleus booking their place in the World Cup.
Nov 19, 2009 7:00:40 AM
Quelle surprise! Anyone aware of Raymond Domenech’s reign as French coach will be aware of his ability to flirt with, yet somehow narrowly avoid, complete disaster. This could be no better illustrated than with les Bleus’ shambolic World Cup qualifying campaign, which ended successfully, albeit controversially, against Ireland on Wednesday night.
Having recovered from an inert first half showing in Dublin to pinch a 1-0 success on the Emerald Isle thanks to a deflected Nicolas Anelka strike, those wearing the home side’s deep blue on Wednesday night looked set to be brushed aside by a whirlwind of Irish offense. Barely able to keep their advantage in the early stages of match, a combination of passes between Kevin Kilbane and Damien Duff unlocked the home defense for Robbie Keane to side-foot into the corner of the net prior to half-time.
From there Ireland looked the stronger team until the final quarter of the match, when France would finally begin to exert a little pressure of their own. Nevertheless, Shay Given’s goal remained largely untested, leading to a controversial period of extra-time, which would bring with it a moment of infamy that will likely become synonymous with Thierry Henry.
A hopeful punt into the box from Florent Malouda seemed to be escaping the Barcelona man’s clutches, but rolled down his arm, allowing him to flick the ball with his fingers onto his boot. With the referee and his assistant seeming blind to the incident, the rest was inevitable, as Henry steered the ball across goal to William Gallas, who couldn’t miss from a couple of yards out.
Defeat for the Irish had a macabre sense of impending for many and has inevitably had parallels to Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal against England in the 1986 World Cup drawn to it.
Indeed, headlines popped up immediately around France declaring their goal to be the ‘Main de Dieu’, or the ‘Main de Henry’ – ‘Hand of God’ and ‘Hand of Henry’ respectively. Depending on your perspective, ‘Titi’s’ effort was more the Devil’s work. Certainly from an Irish viewpoint, Maillot de Coq has a whole new meaning.
Thousands have been quick to castigate the striker for his actions, but very few professional footballers who have such wherewithal wouldn’t have performed such an audacious stunt in a similar position. Irish forward Kevin Doyle even hinted after the game that he would have done the same thing.
Henry has been quick to acknowledge that he handled the ball, though he claims entirely accidentally. It’s easy to believe that the initial contact made with the upper part of his left arm was inadvertent, but even the staunchest Frenchman would have to question the little deviation the record scorer’s fingers gave to the ball, happily onto his boot.
William Gallas, schooled in the art of turning a blind eye by Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, said, “I do not know if Thierry touched the ball with his hand. It went so fast. The only thing I saw was the ball that came to me.”
The Irish, of course, were instantly aware of what had happened. Given rushed from his goal to pull referee Martin Hansson back by the arm and point to the spot where the injustice had occurred. Damien Duff was booked for his vehement protests.
“The hand was so obvious, we're disgusted,” raged captain Keane after the game.
While Henry’s hand will go down as a significant blemish on his highly successful career, the failure to spot the incident by the match officials tarnishes an otherwise virtually flawless performance on their part.
It would have been so easy for the Swedish team to award a penalty to the hosts when Nicolas Anelka was seemingly brought down by Given. They waved away French protests, which mostly came from the stands, and replays showed that they were correct to do so (though the Chelsea man should have seen a yellow card for his troubles).
So what of the price France have had to pay for such a success? Titi’s magic fingers, in keeping the ball alive at a crucial moment to send France to the World Cup, have reminded the public that the princely attacker does not boast a whiter-than-white reputation. More poignantly, the goal has shackled the widely unpopular Domenech to the squad for another nine months.
Completely outclassed in the dugout by Giovanni Trapattoni, les Bleus simply don’t have a chance of winning the World Cup with the bespectacled buffoon in charge. Seemingly lacking in respect from his squad, ‘Dom’ failed to create a unit that boasted any kind of meaningful penetration at all, despite boasting at his command a whole host of Champions League-based stars.
An inability to move away from a 4-2-3-1 setup that has not functioned effectively for well over a year and a refusal to even throw Karim Benzema on from the bench simply show that he is too stubborn, rigid and proud to be in the position he is now. But that’s not news to anyone – there’s little point now debating his position as it has been discussed to a death time and again. Indeed, everyone – aside from the French FA, that is – is in total agreement over the subject.
So rather than focusing on the negative – the Henry handball and the marionette in the dugout – it’s worth remembering that France are going to the World Cup because of one man: Hugo Lloris.
Totally eclipsed by the shadow of controversy, the young Olympique Lyonnais custodian would produce two monumental performances, going some way to disguise the horrible failings in the middle of the French defense - Gallas looked as comfortable in the air as Dennis Bergkamp on a spaceship - with a dominant showing in his penalty box. Imperious under high balls and virtually impervious when forced to block shots, judging by the form he displayed over the two legs, he may well have been France’s hero had the tie gone to penalties.
Comparisons to Real Madrid and Spain stopper Iker Casillas are certainly possible, particularly in the style he leapt out to deny Glenn Whelan in the first leg. Football365 gave a wink to the Blanco when they led with the headline ‘Saint-Lloris’ to describe the 22-year-old.
Lloris, who will celebrate his 23rd birthday on December 26, was France’s true savior in the play-offs, not the Hand of Henry.
Robin Bairner, Goal.com
Discuss all the latest in the Goal.com Forums.
Having recovered from an inert first half showing in Dublin to pinch a 1-0 success on the Emerald Isle thanks to a deflected Nicolas Anelka strike, those wearing the home side’s deep blue on Wednesday night looked set to be brushed aside by a whirlwind of Irish offense. Barely able to keep their advantage in the early stages of match, a combination of passes between Kevin Kilbane and Damien Duff unlocked the home defense for Robbie Keane to side-foot into the corner of the net prior to half-time.
From there Ireland looked the stronger team until the final quarter of the match, when France would finally begin to exert a little pressure of their own. Nevertheless, Shay Given’s goal remained largely untested, leading to a controversial period of extra-time, which would bring with it a moment of infamy that will likely become synonymous with Thierry Henry.
A hopeful punt into the box from Florent Malouda seemed to be escaping the Barcelona man’s clutches, but rolled down his arm, allowing him to flick the ball with his fingers onto his boot. With the referee and his assistant seeming blind to the incident, the rest was inevitable, as Henry steered the ball across goal to William Gallas, who couldn’t miss from a couple of yards out.
Defeat for the Irish had a macabre sense of impending for many and has inevitably had parallels to Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal against England in the 1986 World Cup drawn to it.
Indeed, headlines popped up immediately around France declaring their goal to be the ‘Main de Dieu’, or the ‘Main de Henry’ – ‘Hand of God’ and ‘Hand of Henry’ respectively. Depending on your perspective, ‘Titi’s’ effort was more the Devil’s work. Certainly from an Irish viewpoint, Maillot de Coq has a whole new meaning.
Thousands have been quick to castigate the striker for his actions, but very few professional footballers who have such wherewithal wouldn’t have performed such an audacious stunt in a similar position. Irish forward Kevin Doyle even hinted after the game that he would have done the same thing.
Henry has been quick to acknowledge that he handled the ball, though he claims entirely accidentally. It’s easy to believe that the initial contact made with the upper part of his left arm was inadvertent, but even the staunchest Frenchman would have to question the little deviation the record scorer’s fingers gave to the ball, happily onto his boot.
William Gallas, schooled in the art of turning a blind eye by Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, said, “I do not know if Thierry touched the ball with his hand. It went so fast. The only thing I saw was the ball that came to me.”
The Irish, of course, were instantly aware of what had happened. Given rushed from his goal to pull referee Martin Hansson back by the arm and point to the spot where the injustice had occurred. Damien Duff was booked for his vehement protests.
“The hand was so obvious, we're disgusted,” raged captain Keane after the game.
While Henry’s hand will go down as a significant blemish on his highly successful career, the failure to spot the incident by the match officials tarnishes an otherwise virtually flawless performance on their part.
It would have been so easy for the Swedish team to award a penalty to the hosts when Nicolas Anelka was seemingly brought down by Given. They waved away French protests, which mostly came from the stands, and replays showed that they were correct to do so (though the Chelsea man should have seen a yellow card for his troubles).
So what of the price France have had to pay for such a success? Titi’s magic fingers, in keeping the ball alive at a crucial moment to send France to the World Cup, have reminded the public that the princely attacker does not boast a whiter-than-white reputation. More poignantly, the goal has shackled the widely unpopular Domenech to the squad for another nine months.
Completely outclassed in the dugout by Giovanni Trapattoni, les Bleus simply don’t have a chance of winning the World Cup with the bespectacled buffoon in charge. Seemingly lacking in respect from his squad, ‘Dom’ failed to create a unit that boasted any kind of meaningful penetration at all, despite boasting at his command a whole host of Champions League-based stars.
An inability to move away from a 4-2-3-1 setup that has not functioned effectively for well over a year and a refusal to even throw Karim Benzema on from the bench simply show that he is too stubborn, rigid and proud to be in the position he is now. But that’s not news to anyone – there’s little point now debating his position as it has been discussed to a death time and again. Indeed, everyone – aside from the French FA, that is – is in total agreement over the subject.
So rather than focusing on the negative – the Henry handball and the marionette in the dugout – it’s worth remembering that France are going to the World Cup because of one man: Hugo Lloris.
Totally eclipsed by the shadow of controversy, the young Olympique Lyonnais custodian would produce two monumental performances, going some way to disguise the horrible failings in the middle of the French defense - Gallas looked as comfortable in the air as Dennis Bergkamp on a spaceship - with a dominant showing in his penalty box. Imperious under high balls and virtually impervious when forced to block shots, judging by the form he displayed over the two legs, he may well have been France’s hero had the tie gone to penalties.
Comparisons to Real Madrid and Spain stopper Iker Casillas are certainly possible, particularly in the style he leapt out to deny Glenn Whelan in the first leg. Football365 gave a wink to the Blanco when they led with the headline ‘Saint-Lloris’ to describe the 22-year-old.
Lloris, who will celebrate his 23rd birthday on December 26, was France’s true savior in the play-offs, not the Hand of Henry.
Robin Bairner, Goal.com
Discuss all the latest in the Goal.com Forums.
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