France break Irish hearts to seal World Cup slot

November 19, 2009

France ensured the likes of Franck Ribery, Karim Benzema and Thierry Henry will be at the World Cup in South Africa next year after winning through with a goal that will leave Irish fans seething.

There was nothing wrong with the finish from William Gallas, but Thierry Henry’s hand clearly played a part in keeping the blal in play and Irish supporters will have a tough time believing that all the contact was entirely unintentional. (There has already been talk of “The Hand of God II” in reference to Diego Maradona in 1986.)

The result, 1-1 on the night, gave France a 2-1 aggregate win and saw them join Portugal, Greece and Slovenia as the successful sides on the final night of European qualifying.

So Ribery and the rest will join Cristiano Ronaldo and Deco at the finals, after Portugal booked their place with a more convincing performance away to Bosnia.

Joining the list of big name players to miss out are Andriy Shevchenko, after Ukraine were denied by Greece, and Andrei Arshavin, following Russia’s elimination against Slovenia.

With Algeria winning through 1-0 against Egypt in Sudan, 31 of the 32 places have been decided, with Uruguay v Costa Rica to decide the one remaining issue.

France wining through against Ireland was by no means a shock but the manner of their victory will be painful to take for a team that played out of their skins in the French capital.

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