Thursday, November 19, 2009

Dear Thierry Henry



If you truly were sorry that you twice hit the ball with your hand to prevent it from going wide and then proceeded to score from that opportunity, why didn't you admit it on the spot. You knew what you did, you did it deliberately, it is useless claiming you're sorry now when it's too late for that to mean anything. Your chance to show your true colours was on the field and show them you did.

Since the match will not be replayed, why don't you step down from this world cup season if you truly do regret that decision which cost Ireland our world cup chance?

10 comments:

Igor said...

Soccer and Baseball need to take a look at what the NBA and the NFL is doing with instant replays on this kind of situations... this is sad I'm sorry for Ireland

Anonymous said...

Is this related to Mono? It is nice to digress sometimes, but I don't see any other Mono developer involved in this.

Carlos Alberto Cortez said...

Anonymous: Could we please forget the conservative/intolerant position? If you pay attention all the people in planet.gnome.org or similar places write some personal stuff from time to time. If you don't want to read it, then just move to the next entry. Ough.

Mark said...

Not that I care one tiny little bit one way or the other, but would any other player in the same situation not have taken the advantage? I mean, come on.

Alan said...

@igor: Hopefully this blatant cheating will force the football associations hand to bring in a TV ref. Football is the richest sport in the world and one of the only (maybe the only) mainstream sport to not have some kind of tv ref.

@Anonymous: If you're uninterested in my blog, don't read it. If you are interested, I will occasionally talk about non programming related topics.

@schani: A true sportsman wouldn't. Just the same as you wouldn't deliberately stack your deck if you were into card games. Personally speaking, I wouldn't do this. I can't speak for anyone else though. I'd hope most people wouldn't, otherwise what's the point in playing? It's not a competition of skill anymore, it's a competition to see who can break the rules of the game and get away with it.

Mark said...

I suppose for Henry a big point of playing is earning money. If he gave himself up to the referee after committing an offence his value as a player would, I imagine, go down.

But my point was: Any professional soccer player, in his position, would have done the same. And as long as the rules are not enforced more rigorously, as Igor said, it will stay that way. No reason to single out Henry.

Alan said...

"Any professional soccer player, in his position, would have done the same"

I strongly disagree ;) However, I do agree that the rules need to be enforced better. Unfortunately, the linesmen and the ref all missed the two offside men and the double handball which led to this goal. As such it doesn't really make sense to add more (fallible) men to the equation.

What they need is a separate system. TV refs spring to mind as the obvious choice which has proven itself time and again in many other sports. There are no compelling reasons against the use of a TV ref in soccer other than the football association just don't want it.

Unknown said...

Hi alan,

I am sorry for Ireland. It is a shame for France to win like that and To be honnest Ireland was far better during the match. Lioris was the only good player we have during this match.
IMO, the problème is not thierry Henry but TV refs. It have to be used for all important match! Rugby ever used it without issue...

istoff said...

"Don't hate the player, hate the game!"

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

This reminds me of cricket where batsmen either walk or don't walk if they edge the ball and the umpire isn't sure.

Soccer needs to catch up and FIFA need to stop hanging refs, players and fans up to dry.

For this to happen at the highest level to any team is bad, and it's unecessary.

I wouldn't single Henry out for special treatment. There are many minor fouls/ infringements that players attempt and get away with. If a tv ref can intervene, I believe the game will benefit.

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