Handball row left Henry devastated

November 23, 2009

Thierry Henry considered ending his international career following the furore that surrounded his handball against Ireland in the World Cup playoff in Paris last Wednesday.

Speaking to L’Equipe newspaper, the Barcelona striker said that he felt abandoned and alone in the days after the game which saw the French qualify for South Africa on the back of a goal set up by Henry’s sleight of hand.

Asked if he had considered calling time on his international career Henry replied: “Oh yes. On Friday when everything had gone too far.

“I was really upset, and not for the first time. After the World Cup in 2006, I considered that but it was too early.

“After Euro 2008 also but it was not the right moment. There was a new generation who needed me. It just wasn’t possible.

“Despite everything that happened last week, the way I felt abandoned, I will never let my country down.”

Henry freely admitted at the end of the Ireland game that he had used his hand in setting up the French equaliser for William Gallas which was enough to send the Irish crashing out of the tournament in extra time.

That led to calls from Ireland and from some sectors in France for the game to be replayed, but world governing body FIFA ruled out any such eventuality ahead of the World Cup draw which takes place in Cape Town on December 4.

Henry, who himself said it would be best to replay the game, said that he felt great sympathy for the Irish having suffered a similar fate when playing for Arsenal against Liverpool in 2001 FA Cup final.

He did regret having celebrated the goal but said that he had been taken up by the emotion of the moment in what had been a tense encounter.

“I shouldn’t have done that, but quite honestly it was just out of my control,” he said.

“It’s true I regret it and that is why shortly afterwards I went to each Irish player to speak to them. After that we did not celebrate, not even in the dressing rooms.”

Asked if he thought the incident would leave a lasting stain on his career, Henry said. “Quite honestly no. I don’t think that all I have achieved in my career up until now will be bespoiled by this.”

PARIS (AFP)

Tags: cape town, dressing rooms, euro 2008, eventuality, extra time, fa cup final, furore, handball, international career, irish player, l equipe, replay the game, right moment, sleight of hand, striker, thierry henry, William Gallas, World Cup, world governing body

UEFA approves new anti-racism guidelines

July 2, 2009

UEFA’s Executive Committee has approved new guidelines that are meant for match officials to properly deal with racist incidents in stadiums.

The new ‘zero tolerance’ policy consists of several steps, the first being that a referee may stop a game and ask for a public announcement to be made asking the public to stop this racist behaviour.

If the racism continues after the match has restarted, the referee will suspend the match once more for a period of up to ten minutes. At this moment, players will be asked to return to their dressing rooms.

The third and most drastic measure will be that a referee may actually abandon the game, if all other possibilities have been tried and proven insufficient.

UEFA Chairman Michel Platini commented on the new guidelines: “It was necessary to give the pitch people the means to do something, and we have determined the parameters and lines of conduct, whereby in important cases of racist behaviour in a stadium, a referee must stop the match.”

By: Jonathan Roorda

Tags: Chairman Michel Platini, drastic measure, dressing rooms, executive committee, game, maQtch, michel platini, parameters, pitch, possibilities, public announcement, racism, racist behaviour, racist incidents, referee, roorda, several steps, stadiums, tolerance, uefa, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup, zero tolerance policy

Hiddink says ´no splits´ in Chelsea dressing room

February 20, 2009

LONDON (AFP) – Guus Hiddink is adamant there are no splits in the Chelsea dressing room and believes team spirit has not been damaged by the recent turmoil at the English Premier League club.

Hiddink was appointed as Chelsea’s interim manager until the end of the season last week, after the sacking of Luiz Felipe Scolari following a run of poor results and apparent disaffection in the dressing room.

A delegation of senior players, including striker Didier Drogba, midfielder Michael Ballack and goalkeeper Petr Cech, were reported to have spoken to club owner Roman Abramovich to express their dissastisfaction over Scolari’s training methods, while John Terry recent admitted only "two or three" players were fully behind the Brazilian.

Drogba subsequently suggested that Scolari had "divided" the dressing room rather than uniting it by going public with his criticisms of the squad.

That disgruntlement suggests Hiddink, who is well versed in handling explosive dressing rooms from his time with Real Madrid and Holland, will need to be at his diplomatic best to restore Chelsea to their formidable best.

But Chelsea’s fifth manager in the last four years claimed at his inaugural press conference that the stories of unrest had been grossly exaggerated.

"People have said that Chelsea have had problems but I am not fully aware of them and I’m not that interested," he said. "I don’t want to know about the past – I am here to go forward.

"I notice how people behave and how people get on with each other or not, but in my view there is no problem in that.

"I have watched the team from a little distance on the training ground and in the locker room over the last few days and I cannot see that there is division, or whatever.

"I am not totally naive and I wanted to see whether anything which has been said about the recent past is true.

"But you can see when you play games in training whether the players get emotional. You cannot mask things then – you show your emotions and show whether you get at a certain player or whatever.

"But I haven’t seen that. They respect each other. From what I have noticed, they are a united squad.

"They are 20-plus players, and I am realistic enough to know that everyone from number one to 11 will be very happy but the rest will want to play. But they know they are in a big club and that not everyone can play."

Hiddink has been relying on detailed briefings from his assistant manager Ray Wilkins as he attempts to get to grips with his new squad, although his starting line-up for Saturday’s crucial encounter with third-placed Aston Villa is not expected to contain many surprises.

"Everyone knows the players, especially the ones who are dominating at international level," he added. "But it’s always important to know the less-known players and their position in the squad as well.

"I get my information from Ray Wilkins, who is very well respected, and he has given me very good infornation about players who are less well known. I will make my decisions together with him."

Written by: AFP