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Off with his hand or Le Hand of GodFollow

#1 Nov 19 2009 at 6:19 PM Rating: Good
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I finally watched the qualifier here on my DVR and cannot believe how 2 referees came up with no call.

I don't really speak French (all the French I know came from Looney Tunes skunks and chefs) but I was curious if Red or Nobby or Patrican could sum up some of the French reaction (or for that matter Ireland) to Henry's "hand of god." A lot of the English-speaking French reaction I've seen is frustration and even shame so my bias assumes that the native tongue French media are a little less worked up about it. I even saw one writer offer the qualifying spot to Ireland on the basis that they might actually get out of the group stages which seems very French of them.

Any chance this will force FIFA to add more referees? Or even replay?
#2 Nov 19 2009 at 6:40 PM Rating: Decent
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I was just reading some comments on the web site of the french journal l'equipe and what I can tell you is that even the french are disgusted by what happened. They want Raymond Domenech's head and a lengthy ban for Henry. Some are even hoping that they get kicked out of the world cup in the first round.


Edit to add: I think the worst in all this is the cover-up from FIFA and the UEFA. If you read the match summary on their web sites, they don't even mention the hand. They just talk of a miraculous goal from Gallas.

Edited, Nov 19th 2009 7:47pm by feelz
#3REDACTED, Posted: Nov 19 2009 at 7:55 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) FIFA.com recently looked back at the FIFA Confederations Cup's classic moments, matches and players, and you can also read articles on the stadiums, volunteers and fans at this year's competition. As the tournament progresses, the site will be updated frequently with all the best news and feature articles on the octet of sides vying to win this Festival of Champions.
#4 Nov 19 2009 at 8:11 PM Rating: Good
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FIFA.com recently looked back at the FIFA Confederations Cup's classic moments, matches and players, and you can also read articles on the stadiums, volunteers and fans at this year's competition. As the tournament progresses, the site will be updated frequently with all the best news and feature articles on the octet of sides vying to win this Festival of Champions.


Thanks the plug ****-waffle.



Edited, Nov 19th 2009 7:15pm by baelnic
#5 Nov 19 2009 at 10:13 PM Rating: Decent
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baelnic wrote:
I finally watched the qualifier here on my DVR and cannot believe how 2 referees came up with no call.

I don't really speak French (all the French I know came from Looney Tunes skunks and chefs) but I was curious if Red or Nobby or Patrican could sum up some of the French reaction (or for that matter Ireland) to Henry's "hand of god." A lot of the English-speaking French reaction I've seen is frustration and even shame so my bias assumes that the native tongue French media are a little less worked up about it. I even saw one writer offer the qualifying spot to Ireland on the basis that they might actually get out of the group stages which seems very French of them.

Any chance this will force FIFA to add more referees? Or even replay?

Is this soccer? Or fùtböl to you non-Americans?

Last time I watched or paid any attention was the Zidane chest-head-butt. Has he played since then?
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#6 Nov 20 2009 at 3:18 AM Rating: Excellent
Debalic wrote:
Last time I watched or paid any attention was the Zidane chest-head-butt. Has he played since then?


Nope, that was his last ever act as footballer Smiley: lol

As for the Henry incident, the French reaction has been surprisingly vehement in its condemnation of what happened. Most French supporter, myself included, are feeling rather ashamed of it. It's cheating, it's not a good example to set for kids, and it's out of character for Henry, who remains one of my all-time footballistic hero.

Having said that, some of the English/Irish reactions were well over the top. He didn't rape or murder anyone, he simply did a handball that the refs missed. It's not worse than a dive, which happen all the time. So you have to keep a sense of proportion. Even if he hadn't done that, it was still a draw. Ireland was not sure to go through by any means.

I think the whole hoopla reflects a deeper malaise, both within French football, and football in general. Within French football, it's simple: we hate Domenech, our national coach. He's an incompetent **** who should've been sacked years ago. The team therefore plays horribly, and we have guys like Benzema stuck on the bench. Had we not qualified for the WC, Domenech would've gotten sacked, and we would all have been quite happy for it.

As for football in general, the whole play-off thing was slightly fixed. FIFA introduced seedings at the last minute to make sure France, Russia, and Portugal had the best chances of qualifying. People were upset about that, and rightly so. And then this happens, when pretty much all the neutrals were rooting for Ireland...

As for the refereeing, FIFA are once again being retarded. Video technology must be introduced. It's archaic to think referees can do the job properly. I could write a whole essay about it, but I won't cos no one would read it, but there's 0 doubt that the time is right. Everything FIFA is doing (introducing more refs, more linesmen, etc...) just makes the problem worse. The solution is there, and is pretty simple.

If anything good should come out of this game, hopefully it'll be the eventual introduction of video technology for certain refereeing decisions.

As for France, we'll probably do **** at the WC. But so would've the Irish, so let's not get too upset about it either.
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#7 Nov 20 2009 at 12:40 PM Rating: Good
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Thanks, Red.

I knew that the French side had been struggling for a long time now. I always just figured that your next group of young players never progressed enough to equal some of the aging players. I guess that meshes up with your claim of having a **** manager. We have a pretty average team and we still have fans calling to fire Bradley any time they lose and lots of times when we win (Even after beating Spain in the Confederations Cup we had people wanting to fire Bradley). I just figured being in a country that actually cared about the game you'd fire your coaches more quickly if they didn't perform.
#8 Nov 20 2009 at 3:58 PM Rating: Good
baelnic wrote:
Thanks, Red.

I knew that the French side had been struggling for a long time now. I always just figured that your next group of young players never progressed enough to equal some of the aging players. I guess that meshes up with your claim of having a sh*t manager. We have a pretty average team and we still have fans calling to fire Bradley any time they lose and lots of times when we win (Even after beating Spain in the Confederations Cup we had people wanting to fire Bradley). I just figured being in a country that actually cared about the game you'd fire your coaches more quickly if they didn't perform.


In terms of players, on paper, I think we're as good as anyone. Henry, Anelka, Benzema up front is as good as you're gonna finda anywhere. Add Ribery and Gourcuff, guys like Diarra and toulalan, and Lloris our keeper, and it's a really solid team. The only real problem is the manager: He falls out with players, he has **** rules, he's weak and not respected, he believes in astrology and therefore wont play 2 scorpios in the same team lest they "kill" each other... And the man left benzema, who was bought for $50M this summer by Real Madrid, on the bench. So yeah, it's always gonna be an uphill struggle...

The only reason he's still in charge is because we went to the 2006 WC final with him. And we only lost on penalties, after the Zidane headbutt, so he wasn't very far from away from getting France its second WC ever. So eventhough we got the final despite having Domenech, it's still given him tons of credit. Which, by now, is all expired. Unless he wins the WC in 2010, he'll be gone by the 14th July.

I enjoyed watching the US during the Confederation Cup. They're super dirty, but they can also play some good football. I think a Secound Round/Quarter Final is achievable in South Africa for them. By the way, whatever happened to Freddy Adu? Wasn't he supposed to be the next Pele?
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#9 Nov 20 2009 at 4:25 PM Rating: Good
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I enjoyed watching the US during the Confederation Cup. They're super dirty, but they can also play some good football. I think a Secound Round/Quarter Final is achievable in South Africa for them. By the way, whatever happened to Freddy Adu? Wasn't he supposed to be the next Pele?


That's a tough question actually. My opinion is that he's just not strong enough yet physically. Outside of Concacaf he gets pushed off the ball way to easy. Bob Bradley's opinion I think is both physically problems and the lack of any defensive acumen.

I'd also say that Adu lost his position when Charlie Davies burst onto the scene. This allows them to keep Landon as a winger (where he should always play, he's not a striker). Until Landon isn't our best player Adu will probably remain on the bench.

All that said, Adu isn't necessarily a disappointment yet because we don't have a place to put him under Bradley. Bob prefers players that can play defense first and score on set pieces second, he honestly doesn't care about offensive prowess right now. This is good in some ways because we can't play the big boys straight up yet but it is also frustrating because some of our best offensive players remain on the bench (Adu, Torres). I bet they'll get a lot of chances to play after this WC and that is going to be fun to see.

I'm pretty hopeful for this WC. I think we will squeak into the second round if we get a decent draw. The Charlie Davis car wreck is devastating to our chances though as we are a completely different team when we have him attacking with unbelievable speed up front. Getting him and Gooch back from injury and fit will be a challenge but the rest of the squad seems really really solid.

#10 Nov 20 2009 at 4:45 PM Rating: Excellent
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Some men decided to kick a football and agreed not to touch it with their hands.

Some other men paid lots of money to watch.

One of the men touched the ball with his hand.

That's pretty much all I get here.

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#11 Nov 20 2009 at 4:52 PM Rating: Good
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That's pretty much all I get here.


You could make a fortune letting people touch your balls, Mr. Clapton.
#12 Nov 20 2009 at 5:30 PM Rating: Decent
RedPhoenixxx wrote:
As for the refereeing, FIFA are once again being retarded. Video technology must be introduced. It's archaic to think referees can do the job properly. I could write a whole essay about it, but I won't cos no one would read it, but there's 0 doubt that the time is right. Everything FIFA is doing (introducing more refs, more linesmen, etc...) just makes the problem worse. The solution is there, and is pretty simple.

If anything good should come out of this game, hopefully it'll be the eventual introduction of video technology for certain refereeing decisions.

As for France, we'll probably do sh*t at the WC. But so would've the Irish, so let's not get too upset about it either.


It is odd really, tennis for instance has used the eagle eye technology for some time now, they can do instant replays and correct the decisions if necessary, but for some reason football has not done this, despite so many calling out for it for so many years now.

As for France cheating their way in the WC, good for them! Belgium can't even manage that anymore.

#13 Nov 20 2009 at 6:40 PM Rating: Decent
Edited by bsphil
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I don't understand why so many leagues are refusing to implement instant replay. It's total **** that FIFA is denying the appeal.
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#14ThiefX, Posted: Nov 20 2009 at 8:39 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) Sorry couldn't resist jumping in on this post.
#15 Nov 20 2009 at 8:43 PM Rating: Good
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ThiefX wrote:
Sorry couldn't resist jumping in on this post.

Soccer isn't a sport. Soccer is a game played by people who do not have enough athletic ability to play Baseball, Football or Basketball
Really? Have you watched baseball? It's like 45-second intervals of actual kinetic activity interspersed with 3 minutes of beer commercials.
#16ThiefX, Posted: Nov 20 2009 at 8:49 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) Have you watched soccer? A bunch of grown men running up and down the field and battling to a scoreless tie........ exciting.
#17 Nov 20 2009 at 8:51 PM Rating: Good
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ThiefX wrote:
Sorry couldn't resist jumping in on this post.

Soccer isn't a sport. Soccer is a game played by people who do not have enough athletic ability to play Baseball, Football or Basketball
What? I love baseball and football, and really don't care for soccer, but I've never seen a soccer player who wasn't in awesome shape. There's some seriously fat asses in football and baseball. Also, unlike basketball, you don't play only 1/3 of the game.
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#18 Nov 20 2009 at 8:52 PM Rating: Good
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ThiefX wrote:
running
The key word. It's a grueling sport.

In American football, only part of the team has to be able to run/throw well, the rest just need to be tanks. In basketball, you trot back and forth, and the Ents they get to play that game can cover the distance in 3.5 steps. In baseball, you had Babe Ruth.
#19 Nov 20 2009 at 8:54 PM Rating: Good
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ThiefX wrote:
Quote:
Really? Have you watched baseball? It's like 45-second intervals of actual kinetic activity interspersed with 3 minutes of beer commercials.


Have you watched soccer? A bunch of grown men running up and down the field and battling to a scoreless tie........ exciting.

Yeah, they should play an ultra-high scoring and exciting game like baseball.
#20ThiefX, Posted: Nov 20 2009 at 9:05 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) Not gonna argue that soccer players are in good shape, im just saying Ive had a better time watching paint dry than watching a soccer game.
#21 Nov 20 2009 at 10:08 PM Rating: Decent
Edited by bsphil
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It's all about the announcers.
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#22 Nov 20 2009 at 10:37 PM Rating: Good
ThiefX wrote:
And what's the deal with soccer players falling down and crying whenever someone gets close to them? That's one of those weird things about soccer, acting like your in pain and crying trying to get someone else in trouble is not only accepted in soccer it's actually praised.
Right, like that doesn't happen in basketball, usually from the highest-paid players.

Basketball isn't a sport, it's an acting career.
#23 Nov 21 2009 at 5:14 AM Rating: Good
ThiefX wrote:
That's one of those weird things about soccer, acting like your in pain and crying trying to get someone else in trouble is not only accepted in soccer it's actually praised..


Yeah, except it's not "praised". So it's not "weird".

If you're gonna diss soccer, at least try to make some sort of sense. I know it's a lot to ask from you, but this is sports, it should come easier than politics. I mean, even Varrus can do it.
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#24 Nov 21 2009 at 5:28 AM Rating: Good
Zieveraar wrote:
It is odd really, tennis for instance has used the eagle eye technology for some time now, they can do instant replays and correct the decisions if necessary, but for some reason football has not done this, despite so many calling out for it for so many years now.


They also use video technology in rubgy, and it works extremely well. They have a "video referee" who calls out contentious decisions, or incidents that the ref might've missed, like someone punching someone else far from the action.

The question is not "should football adopt video technology", it's "how much video technology should football use"? There's no much debate about things like the ball crossing the line, or violent conduct, or clear handballs. It gets a bit trickier for fouls, penalties, and offsides. I personally think they should do it for offsides as well, but that's a whole other debate.

Finally football is called "soccer" in some countries because Oxford University used to call football "Association Football", to differentiate it from rugby which was called "Rugby Football". Oxford students then shortened "Association" to "soccer", like they shortened rubgy to "ruggers", or breakfast to "brekkers", and it stuck. In some countries at least.

That was today's bit-sized sports history lesson, kids.
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#25 Nov 21 2009 at 9:34 AM Rating: Good
#26 Dec 04 2009 at 12:45 PM Rating: Good
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US draws England, Algeria, and Slovenia. France gets bailed out by the ping pong balls by drawing South Africa, Mexico, and Uruguay. I bet there will be more Irish tears today.

I think two Concacaf teams are going to the second round.
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