Pic: STV
Anybody listening to the football phone-in programmes late on Wednesday night or early Thursday morning could have been forgiven for imagining that Thierry Henry had suddenly been exposed as a serial killer. Following the French striker’s deliberate hand ball, which created the opportunity for William Gallas to score the goal which knocked Ireland out of the 2010 World Cup, Henry has been labelled a “disgrace”, a “con man” and a “cynical cheat”.
Some people within football, who have rushed to the moral high ground like Usain Bolt in a bad mood, actually seem to believe that FIFA should intervene in the matter to help restore, ahem, the sport’s “good name”, whilst others have argued that Henry should be charged with bringing the game into disrepute. Aye right! And Maradona should be tried at The Hague for what he did in 1986.
The reality is that Irish supporters are entitled to feel aggrieved at what unfolded during 120 minutes of pulsating action at the Stade de France. They were denied their passage to the World Cup by Henry’s act of desperation, a transgression which would probably have been spotted if football employed the same TV evidence which has been successfully incorporated into cricket, rugby and tennis. But, as for the sanctimonious twaddle which has been spouted elsewhere, let’s get a grip!
If Scotland had managed to fight their way through to the play-offs against France and James McFadden had followed Henry’s lead and used his hand to set up Kenny Miller, would anybody in the Tartan Army be complaining about the outcome today? Of course they wouldn’t. Indeed, I am old enough to remember when Joe Jordan aided Scotland’s qualification to the planet’s premier tournament with a mixture of his hand and his head and there wasn’t a soul within Hampden Park who felt that Big Joe should do the decent thing, volunteer a statement to the referee that he had cheated, and demand that the goal be struck from the record.
Yet that, in effect, seems to be what many people are expecting from Henry. The former Arsenal player has already admitted his culpability in the incident, and even appears to agree, to some extent, that Ireland were unlucky to be eliminated, but his job is to do his best for his country and, whether we like it or not, that occasionally involves forgetting about the beautiful game and simply concentrating on winning ugly.
In any case, much of the criticism veers between being hypocritical and hysterical. When Diego Maradona indulged in his “Hand of God” exploits to vanquish England 23 years ago, the general reaction outside Blighty was to marvel at the little Argentinian’s bare-faced impudence. It helped, of course, that the dust had barely settled on his controversial score before he conjured up one of the most magnificent goals the competition has ever witnessed, before or after. But I have encountered thousands of Scottish fans since that match and the vast majority of them leapt out their seats in delight on both occasions. They – in common with Argentine aficionados – would have rubbed their eyes in disbelief if Maradona had marched towards the referee and admitted, in his own language: “Sorry, guv, it’s a fair cop, I punched the ball into the net. Book me!”
It’s the same situation with Henry. Alright, he won’t be winning any Fair Play awards for the foreseeable future and his sponsors might consider treading warily before he crops up in any more adverts alongside Roger Federer and Tiger Woods. But the bottom line is that he and his compatriots are en route to the World Cup, despite being burdened with one of the worst managers in their history, whereas Ireland, Scotland and Wales will have to spend next summer at home. And, if by some chance, Henry repeats his felony against England, I suspect that most of us will be six feet up in the air again if it works!
