world cup qualifying play off

Giovanni Trappotoni’s Republic of Ireland team were robbed of a World Cup finals place last night when French striker Thierry Henry broke the Irish hearts with a deliberate control of the ball with his hand to set up an extra time goal for William Gallas on 103 minutes.

Ireland had done everything right during a game that they had to win and a well deserved goal from Robbie Keane in the first half had kept their qualification hopes alive.

They played the better football throughout the game, but could not add to the first half goal and at full time the aggregate score was 1-1, with extra time and the possibility of a penalty shoot out beckoning.

John O’Shea, Damien Duff and Robbie Keane all had chances to kill the game off in normal time and how they will rue those missed opportunities.

The Republic of Ireland had cause to breath a sigh of relief around half way through the first period of extra time when Nicolas Anelka appeared to tumble over Shay Givens arm, but the half hearted appeal was waved on.

And then a few minutes later a long ball into the Irish box found Thierry Henry who controlled the ball with his hand before crossing the ball for Gallas to scramble an equaliser on the night, and the winning goal on aggregate.

While Trappatoni refused to get involved in the controversy, simply blaming a ‘great mistake‘ by the referee Martin Hansson, his players were obviously devestated at the way they were knocked out.

Richard Dunne, a rock in Ireland’s defence was consoled at the end of the game by Henry, but admitted that it was like being slapped in the face by the Frenchman.

“He told us we deserved to win. How is that supposed to make me feel?  It makes me feel worse. He’s admitted he cheated. We should have won. He just said, ‘That’s it’. He just said he handled it, he didn’t mean it. Looking at it, it’s quite obvious he did mean it. It’s there for everyone to see and they’re not going to change it now. So what can we do? They’re going to the World Cup and we’re not. That’s it.”

Even the French press could not control themselves in this mornings media, predictably resorting to the ‘Hand of God’ headline, but not praising the team or manager for their efforts.

L’Equipe summing up the feelings of the French nation saying “France have qualified for the 2010 World Cup, that’s for sure, but the result, the most essential thing in sport after all, is not enough to erase the uneasy feeling we had last night.”

world cup qualifying

The Republic of Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni has called upon his squad to play with ‘warm hearts and cool heads’, ahead of tonight’s World Cup qualifying play off against France.

Words were exchanged in a few heated moments at the end of the first leg in a confrontation between Lassana Diarra and Keith Andrews and Trapattoni is keen for his players to remember the importance of the game and to put Saturday’s game and comments behind them.

The Republic of Ireland lost the first leg 1-0 thanks to a late deflected strike from Anelka and now face the battle of their lives at the Stade de France.

Castrol Perfomance data suggests that the Republic have nothing to fear when they face France on Wednesday night following their draw with World Cup holders Italy  in Bari in April, Ireland restricted the Italians to just two shots on goal in that game while creating 12 chances themselves.

The Republic also controlled the game, having 66% of the overall possession, but they will not need reminding that Italy scored from their only shot on target while Roy Keane’s equaliser did not come until the 87th minute.

Data suggests that Keane could be the key player for Ireland in France if he can emulate his performance from Italy when he had three shots on goal as well as completing 33 of 39 passes  successfully.

Castrol Performance sees the main threat from France coming in the form of Nicolas Anelka, the in form Chelsea striker has been a key factor in France’s bid to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, his goal on Saturday was his 12th in as many games, with France winning all of those matches.

Anelka has also had more shots on target than any of his team mates during the qualifying campaign and against Ireland he had an outstanding game, receiving 53 passes, showing excellent composure on the ball and completing 90% of his passes (43 out of 48).

castrol performance research

While I would love to see the Republic of Ireland qualify for the World Cup finals in 2010 they do have a massive hill to climb and although France are no longer the threat of a few years ago, only an indifferent performance (not that rare) from ‘Les Bleus’ will allow Ireland to qualify.