Irish Lose to French When Refs Miss Obvious Handball
If you follow college football, you no doubt realize that there have been a ton of controversial calls BY REFS this fall. Well, here's proof that all sports struggle with officiating.
France was playing Ireland yesterday for a spot in next summer's World Cup. The match was played before a huge crowd in Paris. The game had gone to overtime. The winner goes to South Africa for the World Cup. The loser goes home. Watch this goal and see how the Swedish officials blew this one in a BIG way.
If you speak French, you can understand the guilty party Thierry Henry. It's translated into Czech on the video. Here's the English translation of his words:
"Yes, it was a hand. I told my Irish colleagues. It's hard to come to terms with it when I look at it on video. My teammate Toto was fighting for the the ball with two Irish players. The ball came to me. It jumped up on my hand. I played it in front of the net. I already told the Irish, 'I'm not the referee.'"
The Football Association of Ireland is demanding that the match be replayed. Not likely. You gotta feel though for the Irish on this one. Even the French seem to think that this was a Pyrrhic victory.
I'll bet they wish soccer allowed official review on instant replay. Of course if they were using replay officials from the SEC or Big East, the ruling might have come back with the shocking news, "The ruling on the field stands. Goal for the French."
France was playing Ireland yesterday for a spot in next summer's World Cup. The match was played before a huge crowd in Paris. The game had gone to overtime. The winner goes to South Africa for the World Cup. The loser goes home. Watch this goal and see how the Swedish officials blew this one in a BIG way.
If you speak French, you can understand the guilty party Thierry Henry. It's translated into Czech on the video. Here's the English translation of his words:
"Yes, it was a hand. I told my Irish colleagues. It's hard to come to terms with it when I look at it on video. My teammate Toto was fighting for the the ball with two Irish players. The ball came to me. It jumped up on my hand. I played it in front of the net. I already told the Irish, 'I'm not the referee.'"
The Football Association of Ireland is demanding that the match be replayed. Not likely. You gotta feel though for the Irish on this one. Even the French seem to think that this was a Pyrrhic victory.
I'll bet they wish soccer allowed official review on instant replay. Of course if they were using replay officials from the SEC or Big East, the ruling might have come back with the shocking news, "The ruling on the field stands. Goal for the French."
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