LONDON (AP) -- Thierry Henry denied Friday that he was a cheat but said the "fairest solution" would be to replay the France-Ireland World Cup playoff that was decided by his handball.Henry set up the deciding goal for William Gallas by controlling the ball with his hand in Wednesday's 1-1 draw at the Stade de France. The goal in extra time gave France a spot in next year's World Cup with a 2-1 aggregate victory over Ireland after two legs of the playoffs.
"Of course the fairest solution would be to replay the game but it is not in my control," Henry said in a a statement.
Earlier Friday, world governing body FIFA rejected a request by the Football Association of Ireland for the game to be replayed.
Henry admitted he handled the ball and said he felt embarrassed at how France qualified for the World Cup at the expense of Ireland.
"I have said at the time and I will say again that yes I handled the ball," he said in the statement issued to British media. "I am not a cheat and never have been. It was an instinctive reaction to a ball that was coming extremely fast in a crowded penalty area."
"I have never denied that the ball was controlled with my hand," Henry said. "I told the Irish players, the referee and the media this after the game."
The Barcelona striker expressed sympathy for the Irish.
"Naturally I feel embarrassed at the way that we won and feel extremely sorry for the Irish who definitely deserve to be in South Africa," he said. "There is little more I can do apart from admit that the ball had contact with my hand leading up to our equalizing goal and I feel very sorry for the Irish," he said.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
HENRY is very honest. The macht would be reapeat for the fair play.
Honesty -
"Characterized by truth"
and
"Marked by or displaying integrity".
All the above traits are lacking in the statements presented by Henry, FIFA and French Football Federation.
They are PR statements for the benefit of sponsors nothing more. If their sponsors were to pull out, only then things would change.
The game is broken.
Drugs ruined cycling and they are now attempting to flush it out.
Cheating is the same in soccer.
I am done with the game till it is fixed. Most parents surely will feel the same. Can you really tell Children that this is the way to behave.
100% agree,
Henry deliberately redirected the ball twice then flippantly said it was accidental. With video showing this is a clear lie he now says the game should be replayed trying to save his sponsorships but knowing full well that FIFA will never replay the game. FIFA should ban him form the next world cup though that will do nothing for Ireland. Look at FIFA's website and there are no public comments about the game in their COMMENTS section. How bad is that ? Censoring the thousands of comments they must have received and showing NONE. They are as bad as Henry !