You seem to think that the very idea of using video replay in that fashion is unthinkable, and then you go on to talk about the NHL. Allow me to point out, then, that your unthinkable scenario is, in fact, exactly the way that video replay IS used in hockey.
Just out of interest, how long have you lived in the US, a country not known for either the high quality of its football or particularly large amounts of coverage of the sport?
Does anyone in this thread agree with DSYoungEsq in that professional fouls are seen as not cheating and most fans don’t even consider them bad?
I have to ask all those so up in arms about this incident - did you feel the same passion about Henry’s diving efforts in the 2006 World Cup?
The guy is a long established cheat.
According to BBC Ceefax, FIFA have rejected Irelands request for a replay.
The only honourable thing is for France to now offer a replay, which they won’t
No, and to be honest I don’t know anyone who does. This type of thing is ruining the game. It happens all the time. This isn’t the first time Henry has done something like this. Like someone else said he’s dived before earning penalties etc. Someone earlier said that these things are to be expected, everyone does it and the officials are to blame. Its that sort of attitude that has players thinking they can do anything as long as they don’t get caught. Certainly over here the player takes the brunt of the blame. Every paper this morning and yesterday has Henry plastered all over the front pages. His reputation is taking a serious hit over this.
FIFA got exactly what they wanted. This was obvious when they decided at the last minutes to seed the playoffs.
Yes.
Diving pisses me off. In fact it probably pisses me off more than deliberate handballs but what has made this one so controversial is the direct connection between the handball and Ireland going out.
As I think I said earlier in the thread, Anelka should have been booked for his clear dive to try and get a penalty earlier in the game.
I’m glad that it’s not just me then.
WHEN did I say anything about DIVING??? 
A professional foul is not diving. :rolleyes:
Try again, folks…
You do realise that other people are posting in this thread? Someone else brought up the diving.
This is not true from what I have heard from it, yesterday Dara O’Brain said on the BBC that very few Irish fans had seen the handball in the stadium (and they also didn’t show the replay on the screens) and were extra distrought when they saw/were told what really happened.
Anyhow, there were two people (ref and linesman) standing outside a penalty area full of moving players. It is always possible that at the second the handball was made, both of them had hampered views. It is not that the ref saw the incident and thought ist was ball to hand or anything, he just didn’t see it and appearantly was crying in his dressingroom after seeing what really happened. This could have happened to anyone.
This is why I think no amout of stick is too much to throw at Henry, he knew what happened, he knew the ref had missed it and he chose to keep it that way (by running away celebrating as if nothing had happened). People say anyone would have done the same, but I’m quite sure this is not the case. This season alone I’ve seen at least three incidents in which a ref mad a decision (also on handball) just to have the player that got the free kick make clear there was no foul…the ref changed the decision and they were on their mary way again. Henry chose for this option and I hope people won’t forget.
As you can see from the above, I’m quite pissed off. I’ve been trying to understand why this pisses me off so much, and why I regard it as so much worse than a professional foul or any other foul. Come to think of it this pisses me off worse than some of the career threathening fouls we have seen this season.
The only thing I can think of is that it is because Henry knew what he did (and that everybody would see it), had the opportunity to say ‘sorry, I handled the ball’
and still chose to deceive the ref. And then he sits down with the Irish players to say ‘yeah it was hand ball, it sucks for you, but hey…you understand right’. He should have run off the pitch in shame.
Both of you are correct, the difference between the two cases is that in the Bahrain game the ref made a decision and then proceeded in a way that is not consistent with the rules (given his decsion) that’s why it was calle’d a ‘technical mistake’. In the Ireland game the ref just made the wrong decision.
I also agree with the no-replay verdict, ordering a replay would open pandoras box…every game will have to be played twice before it would stand. If the French would offer one on the other hand, i’d be all for it; would also redeem the French a bit. I do think th FIFA has dropped the ball on this by not acknowledging what happened. After the game the fifa site onlt said france won and didn’t mention anything about the controversy…like it would go away if they just ignored it; pissed me of royally, that.
Sky Sports News reports that Henry has said that the fair solution would be for the game to be replayed and also that the Irish definitely deserve to be in S.Africa.
It aint gonna happen, the French FA have said so.
I do not agree with him at all. Professional fouls are seen as very bad form. Wicked poo dear:
I can’t answer for most fans but I personally don’t consider professional fouls to be cheating. The player isn’t trying to deceive anyone, they are just using the last option available to prevent a goal scoring opportunity. Most players seem to accept their cards afterwards without complaining, be it yellow or red. If it’s a violent foul then they deserve a ban, of course. If a player tries to pretend he didn’t mean it then that’s cheating.
And he waited for FIFA to say no to the replay before coming out with his statement. Desperate to keep his reputation. If he’d said it to the ref after the goal was scored then maybe I’d think he was genuine.
I think you have a far more rigid view of cheating than most. For example, under your definition if an athlete is taking performance enhancing drugs but holds his hands up and says “yes I did it” when found out then he isn’t cheating.
Additionally, many professional fouls are attempts at deception. They are not all clear hack downs, they can also be subtle little tugs on the back of the shirt to slow a player down so he can be tackled. You very often see players claim, via body language, that they have done nothing wrong yet the video replay clearly shows they have.
Anyone with a bit of time to kill might find this amusing. 
My condolences to the Irish, you guys got utterly screwed.
Well taking performance enhancing drugs is clearly outlawed under any circumstances. It’s not part of the game in any shape or form.
A professional foul is just a normal foul with a specific intent. I doubt anyone will say that a normal foul should be considered cheating even though it’s against the rules and punishable by various means. If the intent is to deceive the referee then I would agree that it’s cheating, I accept that this is the case in some professional fouls. If the intent is just to prevent a goal scoring opportunity then I don’t think it’s cheating, not when the player accepts their red card. They are gaining an advantage but I don’t think it’s an unfair advantage, not when they accept the red card before even making the tackle. Is a goalkeeper bringing down the last man a cheater? He obviously deserves a red card but I don’t think it’s cheating, even if it was intentional.
I realise lots of people disagree with me, that’s fair enough.
On the other hand, diving is never part of the game. There are no times where diving is allowed, no matter the intent. A successful dive is always an unfair advantage and a massive one at that. It’s cheating.
I don’t see what brought on this underhanded attempt to discredit whatever DSYoungEsq says just because he is from the US - as far as I can tell by his posts, DSYoungEsq is intimately aware of the game and the rules, both by watching and by playing. I don’t think, for instance, that he would have suggested that FIFA can’t make teams replay a game.
As to professional fouls, let me put it like this: I think it is generally accepted that defenders, in the course of their career, will incur a much larger number of yellow and (occasionally) red cards; this is anticipated by players, coaches and fans alike and I don’t think anyone makes a really big deal out of it. That is not to say that each individual foul is not a foul - they are, and that is why they are penalized. On the whole, though, I would say that a defender is not much of a defender if he never takes a yellow card in order to defuse a potentially dangerous situation for his team. It’s certainly not my favorite aspect of the game but it is most certainly not something I can get all riled up about. I’m sort of ‘meh’ about it, whereas other fouls I find much more galling (maybe we should change this to ‘gauling’ after Wednesday’s match), such as deceptive things like diving and intentionally handling the ball, and also psychotically violent career-ending fouls (unless they are directed at Christiano Ronaldo - I can’t wait for his career to be over :p)
I wasn’t with the Irish fans but with a French client of mine. I saw it clear as day. So did he. And I know Dara 
The linesman was directly across from the goalline. Honestly, it was hard not to see it. A Swedish daily absolutely savaged the ref and his team. I’m still amazed at the amount of coverage it’s gotten in the US.
I agree and this will follow him. Even he seems to want a replay.http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_5706974,00.html
Who says cheating is wrong? After all It got us one World Cup 
Jokes aside, its only a game… deal with it.