Wednesday (11/18/09) evening France defeated Ireland in extra time in the World Cup qualification playoff series. France's Thierry Henry deflected the ball to William Gallas who scored. The only problem was that the whole world saw that Henry clearly brought down the ball with his hand inside the penalty area. The other problem was the official did not see the infraction and allowed the goal, sending Ireland home for another four years and France on to World Cup competition.
Most agree that Ireland outplayed France for much of the second leg; nevertheless, just as in 2006, they will fail to qualify. Although, after the game Henry admitted that he used his hand, it's up to the official to make the call.
Ireland filed an appeal, and many thought the match should be replayed, but the Federation ruled that the result was final. A similar situation occurred in the 1986 World Cup. Diego Maradona scored the "infamous Hand of God" goal which gave Argentina a victory over England. Just as in other sports, the officials are an integral part of the game as are their mistakes.
It's much like life itself; mistakes are made, but we do not get to go back and have a "replay".
On the other hand, technology in the form of video replay would have rectified this mistake. Perhaps, in the future, soccer should make use of technology in order to assist officials who are not able to make the correct call.
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