On this day: Henry handball costs Ireland World Cup place | OneFootball

On this day in 2009, Ireland were cheated out of a World Cup place by a handball, with the Boys in Green on the wrong end of one of the most grievous handballs in the history of football.

In a World Cup playoff between the Irish and French, Thierry Henry controlled the ball with his hand twice before laying it off to William Gallas to score. It put a permanent asterisk next to his name and his legacy would never be discussed in the same way after that transgression.

It was the second leg of the playoff tie, at the Stade de France, in which the visitors had thoroughly outplayed the favourites. Robbie Keane had given Ireland a first-half lead, and they really should have won the game in normal time given all of the chances they had.

Then in extra-time, with Les Bleus desperate to keep their World Cup dream alive, the former Arsenal striker committed the infamous act. Shay Given raced out to the referee begging for him to make the right call. Henry celebrated with his teammates as if nothing had happened.

And that was that. Ireland would not be going to South Africa. The travelling support in the stadium didn’t even realise at the time what exactly had gone on, but word filtered through and disappointment quickly turned to anger.

The culprit sat down on the turf next to Richard Dunne, much to the bemusement and annoyance of every Irish person watching at home. The burly defender later revealed that Henry admitted there and then that he handled it.

The referee on the night, Martin Hansson, also said that if he were to meet Henry again, “I won’t speak with him.”

The incident gave serious momentum to the arguments in favour of bringing video technology into the sport to review controversial moments such as this.

Infractions such as this can now be punished if missed, but VAR has created a controversy all of its own.

For Henry however, there will always be a before and after handball.

Read – Parrott hat-trick seals Ireland comeback and World Cup play-off

See more – Cristiano Ronaldo strop enters the annals of Irish football history

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