ireland robbed by evil 'enry...

[//\/\/]

that's a shocker... link

he's saying that he tried to tell the ref - must've been after his half lap-of-honour to celebrate the goal.

great player, but now tarnished forever...

[chuck]

that was a shocking play by a great player, who in my eyes at least is now merely a cheat.

Ireland had their opportunities - but to go out because of such a shocking decision by Henry, then even worse officiating by the linesman and the ref has got to be gutting.

when is football going to get a video ref for goal-line decisions like this one - every other sport on the planet uses video replay for contentious or split second decisions. football is big money - and players and football associations are losing big money on the back of decisions like this.

I blame Barcelona....

[matt]

I'm not that gutted as I'd much rather watch France in next year's finals than the Republic's negative tactics.

[Rog]

i hope we draw them.............

[Dunwho]

Im gutted... like trapatoni said i would have prefered if we got knocked out on peno's.. but not like this.. its criminal.

The atmosphere in the pub i was watching it in was horrific.. at first it was shock that we had conceeded and then with the replay it was pure and unabridged anger.. it is the single most blatent failure of regulations to come out of football in a long time in my extremely bias opinion as an Irish citizen, but as a fan of football i have lost all interest if this sort of carry on is acceptable to the powers that be in Fifa.

Never mind the fact that they seeded the playoff teams in order to make it easier for the big teams...

..there is something so corrupt about it all.. and its a very bitter pill to swallow.

[cured]

Video replay proponents are the only winners here. That play made me feel horrible for the Irish. As Chick Hearn would have said "they could have called that in braille."

[//\/\/]

the seeding thing always smelt highly of shit and money...

...that's fifa for ya - guardians of the game (right up there with the ioc!)

[happiness stan]

Originally Posted by matt

I'm not that gutted as I'd much rather watch France in next year's finals than the Republic's negative tactics.

Yikes, that's a bit harsh.
I get your point but Ireland played out of their skins last night, against a distinctly average France.
Only one game, but I'm changing my mind on Trap, St Ledger and Andrews were excellent, I think he deserves a little credit.

France couldn't string two passes together all night, you could see why they were in the playoffs.

As for the corruption mentioned elsewhere, the seeding thing stinks.
It was great to see NZ qualify the other day, I'd rather they made the WC (and took the next logical step to improving their quality of football) than see a barely interested French side.

The whole night left a sour taste, which was a real shame after such a cracking game.

[Rog]

Fuck FIFA!

[chuck]

Originally Posted by happiness stan

It was great to see NZ qualify the other day, I'd rather they made the WC (and took the next logical step to improving their quality of football) than see a barely interested French side.

Did I mention I was at the game!? Wooohoooo!!!

I hope to hell the NZFC can sort out the next step after the WC - it's always an uphill battle with rugby being the dominant sport.

The other struggle is the total lack of competition as a result of being part of Oceania - we play Fiji, Noumea, New Caledonia - they playoff against the 5th finisher in Asia. We only play about 6 games to qualify - then will most likely get spanked in SA.

We need to be part of one of the Asian confederations, to get regular game time and more experience for our players at the international level.

And boy - Roy Keane's still bitter and twisted about Saipan and the FAI isn't he.

Keane has no sympathy for the Irish