Fairly gutted, but we got the performance we asked for. Shitty circumstances to go out in but nothing to be gained by being sore losers either. Fuck the french and fair play to our lads.
sickening to go out like that. How the ref and Linesman didnt spot it is unreal. Altho I though either McShane should have cleared it or Given come for it. Thems the breaks tho.
[quote=“Pikeman”]Ah that was class by Ireland. Haven’t read what ye’re all saying yet but I will say
-Keane was very good tonight-one missed chance aside. Looked dangerous (still reverted into his usual whinge bag self at times though). About time as he has been shit for a few years now.
-The 2 midfielders, whelan and andrews-christ they put in some work and it was an awful pity whelan had to go as he was commanding that area completely.
-St. Ledger was utterly fantastic
-Duff was winding back the years, wrecked in the 2nd half though obviously (and missed a sitter of a goal)
-Doyle worked his stones off, does his own work and Keane’s work and is bollixed with 20 mins to go unfortunately. (missed a great chance though)
-Henry is a cunt[/quote]
Very harsh to pull Keane up for missing that ‘chance’. The ball broke in the area and the keeper was on his foot straight away. He had no space to dink it over him so the only option was to go wide. He ran out of space though.
His finish for the goal was superb. Let the ball run across his body and slotted it away where a striker of lesser quality would have lashed at it with his left. If you were to ask me for our best player on the night I would have Robbie. Clipping at the heals of the French as well - the amount of ball he won around midfield was incredible.
And of course he got the goal - commeth the hour commeth the man. Hopefully the clowns that called for his dropping will shut up now.
I though Doyle was poor actually. He had a good run at one stage in the first half where Duff crossed for Keane, but he missed a sitter (and a proper sitter). He tired very early as well which is not good for a professional footballer.
I have seen Duff play much better for Ireland, and in recent years as well. I remember Germany away for example when he was brilliant and was inexplicably taken off for Alan O’Brien with ten minutes to go.
Why do you think Doyle tires early though-he has to make up for the work Robbie doesn’t do also. Granted Robbie worked hard last night for a change but where was his work rate for the last couple of years the lazy fuck. His goal was easy enough in fairness. A strikers dream to have a ball laid back to him from the byline for a tap in. His miss was poor enough (even that Glendenning fella said it was the worst of the night)
I have seen Duff play better for Ireland too but it’s also been a very long time since he did so-one good game in about 10 or so for him.
Toeknee Cascarino is seething
Would you have owned up? In front of 80,000 fans and millions more on television, would you have confessed to handball and wiped out the goal that was sending your nation to the World Cup finals?
It’s a matter of conscience. Don’t think I’m ducking the question when I say that it would never have been an issue for me — because I wasn’t a cheat. In that split second last night when the ball dropped for Thierry Henry, tantalisingly close but just out of range of his feet, it would never have occurred to me to stick out my hand and guide it back into my control. I wasn’t that devious.
I’m no angel, but I know that I wouldn’t have done what he did. And if the roles had been reversed and Ireland had reached South Africa in such a dubious way, would I have been delighted at victory? Of course. Would I have felt it was tainted? Absolutely.
Henry can say what he likes. No doubt he will plead his innocence. But to me, that handball was pure, calculated cheating. Accidental? He handballed it to keep it in, then slightly knocked it again to get it nicely on his right foot.
It’s tarnished his reputation for good. Like Diego Maradona, when we reflect in years to come on the career of one of the finest strikers the game has known, we will have to put his handball against Ireland right up there with all the great goals he scored.
What a tragic missed opportunity. What a chance to be a hero Henry had — not to his home country but to the whole game. Cheating in all its guises is slowly killing football and if Henry had held his hands up again and admitted to the referee that he had handled the ball and the goal should not stand, he would have earned the admiration of the entire sporting world.
But he didn’t. He knew that he had done wrong, but he put self-interest ahead of justice. He could have been a beacon of integrity; instead he shined shame on himself and on football.
Cheating in football is commonplace now because the authorities cheat us all by their spineless failure to punish the perpetrators. Will Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president, or Michel Platini, the Frenchman who is his Uefa counterpart, condemn Henry, or float the idea that the tie should be replayed? Of course not. They will turn a blind eye, and another piece of football’s credibility, another little part of its soul, will quietly die.
The injustice is made worse by the teams’ performances. Ireland were so much better than France. Raymond Domenech’s players have hearts the size of peas. But then, Henry is their captain. Handball aside, he showed no leadership qualities. He speaks so eloquently, but to me now he’ll always be insincere, a faker, someone who cares only about himself.
I’m gutted for Ireland and for football.
This is from the FIFA site. In their key moment, they don’t even mention the handball-
France 1-1 Republic of Ireland (first leg 1-0)
Goals: William Gallas 103 (France); Robbie Keane 32 (Republic of Ireland)
The story of the game
Hosts France were kept completely quiet in the first half by an Ireland team burning with passion, conviction and the desire to battle for every ball. Robbie Keanes strike not long after the half-hour was just reward for the efforts the visitors had put in and it took heroics from France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to limit the damage to one goal. Les Bleus came into the contest after the break but remained vulnerable to Irish attacks, meaning the tie had to be resolved in extra time, when William Gallas equalised to send his team through to their fourth consecutive finals.
The key moment
After 180 hard-fought minutes, the fate of both teams was decided by a moment of drama in extra time. The outcome remained in the balance until the very last second, and when the final whistle was blown the disappointed Irish could hold their heads up high.
The man of the match
France have long been looking for a successor to Fabien Barthez and they have found the perfect candidate in Hugo Lloris. In this game, as in the opening leg, the Lyon No1 bolstered his burgeoning reputation with a string of top-class saves.
Cunts. To be fair they got the MOTM right, Lloris is a keeper for the ages by the looks of it.
He was brutal against Bordeaux last week-let 5 in and a couple of them were howlers
“Moment of drama”, nicely put Fifa.
Looked good for Lyon when I saw him in the CL, my knowledge of French domestic football would be weak after that apart from what I read from Paul Doyle to be honest. Fair enough so.
My knowledege of French domestic football, especially surrounding the Olympique Lyonnais club, is unreal.
http://www.davesfootballblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/henry-ronaldinho-dance.JPG
Henry’s a big Rocko
fair fucks to the lads, as good an irish performance that i have seen…shitty way to lose but them the breaks…
Just like the Clare U21s last year 
No.
[quote=“north county corncrake”]im a bag of nerves here
ive picked the wrong week to give up cocaine[/quote]
top post:clap: 
:barcasmile:
exactly, all will be forgotten when we win euro 2012:pint:
Henry claims he told the ref that the ball hit him on the hand.
[FONT=Helv][SIZE=2][FONT=Helv][SIZE=2]Best away performance in 20 years, we can only be proud of them, especially the midfielders. To the Andy Reid cult; please close the door on your way out.
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