British media Bull Shit

[Italiamia]

[Italiamia]

[RomaShield27]

[San Paolo]

[red]

[p_maldini_3]

[maro]

[Bagg10]

[Italiamia]

[RomaShield27]

[RomaShield27]

Italians voice disgust at robbery of 'Mr Hope'
– By Frank Dunne – Friday November 20 2009

The Italian media yesterday joined the global chorus of indignation about the manner in which France eliminated Ireland from the World Cup on Wednesday night. Condemnation of the Swedish match officials, who failed to spot Thierry Henry's blatant handball, was mixed with sympathy for Ireland's Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni. After a night when the Italian national team had also been in action -- albeit in a friendly -- the country's main sports paper, 'La Gazzetta dello Sport', reserved its front page for the France-Ireland game. 'Trap -- what a robbery!' roared the headline.

In the accompanying editorial, Alessandro de Calo summed up Italian sympathy for Trapattoni, who once again had been denied in a key World Cup match by dodgy decisions. At the 2002 World Cup finals, Trapattoni had seen his Italy side eliminated by joint hosts South Korea after a night of highly eccentric refereeing by the Ecuadorian, Byron Moreno.

"A cowardly goal," De Calo said, "laid on by Henry, with a piece of play worthy of (the sport) handball, deep into extra-time, snatched South Africa 2010 away from old Trap. "A theft rubber-stamped by the ref (Martin) Hansson. Another Moreno, another world scandal, this time for Michel Platini's France."

The paper awarded Hansson an almost unprecedented three out of 10 for his performance, despite the fact that he got pretty much every other major call right on the night. Even Hansson's correct interpretation of the contact -- or lack thereof -- between Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given and France forward Nicolas Anelka in the penalty area was met with disdain. "Anelka tried to con the referee over a non-existent contact with Given in the area. The striker deserved to be booked for diving."

The same newspaper's match reporter, Luca Calamai, was in no doubt about which was the better team on the night. In awarding Ireland seven out of 10 -- against France's five -- he praised the team's "high back line and suffocating pressing".

In the first half, he said, "Ireland bossed it, there was no trace of France. Ireland's only fault on the night was to miss two golden opportunities to kill the game off."

Ireland's stirring performance was to be in vain, however. "Giovanni Trapattoni, as a national team coach, continues to be the victim of sensational injustices at the hands of referees," Calamai said.

"Henry twice controlled the ball with his hand. The offence was clear but neither the ref nor his assistants managed to see it."

The 'Corriere della Sera' also took up the theme of Trap and Ireland as victims. "A double handball by Thierry Henry sends France to the World Cup. Ireland stay at home because often, in football, there is no justice. This is the only way to explain the fact that, after one of the greatest performances of his 35 years as a coach, Giovanni Trapattoni won't be needing a visa for South Africa."

Their match reporter, Fabio Monti, was lavish in his praise for Ireland. "Ireland gave the vice-champions of the world and their coach, Raymond Domenech, a lesson in football, before and after the goal by (Robbie) Keane, the captain who never gave up. In the second half, Ireland created three clear chances. France produced slightly more than they did in the first half but they continued to suffer the pressing, application and spirit of the Irish."

Trapattoni will not be joining his compatriots Marcello Lippi, coach of Italy, and England manager Fabio Capello in South Africa after all. But, as several commentators suggested, when the sound and fury die down, Trap's reputation will have been enhanced by Wednesday night.

As Gianni Mura in 'La Repubblica' put it: "A round of applause, please, for 'Mr Hope' (in reference to the Obama-style T-shirts bearing Trap's image). He deserved to be there."

[maro]

Henry's a cnut and has long been so, but the moral righteousness towards him in that piece in the Guardian yesterday is frankly absurd. How many players in his situation would have confessed and so had the goal chalked off? None, I reckon. I doubt DDR would have done - it's one thing to do it in the middle of a regular league match; it's another to do it in the closing minutes of a knock-out tie like this one. Don't get me wrong - it would be a much better world and football would be a much better sport were it really sincerely legitimate to expect him to 'fess up. It's just that that's not the world of football. Even that piece made the comment about so much hanging on the game in terms of millions of euros. What the fock? If it's the money value which matters then it's preposterous to think he's got to be the guardian of some kind of 'spirit' of fair play. The media spend the whole time chuntering about it being a "results-based business." In which case Henry did the focking right thing because he got the result for his team. The morally righteous are only up in arms because that way they can pretend that what Henry did was an aberration rather than exactly of a piece with the way the game is followed and played and organised. They want to pretend the game has some kind of moral soul in the teeth of all the evidence and their own behaviour.

It always amuses me when people snort in derision at that very British attitude "it's not whether you win or lose but how you play the game." Or you could use the Avvocato's favourite quote: "Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser." Well, Henry's not a loser - he's a winner. And how much gets bloody lost in that?

To my mind, amid all the rhetorical detritus, there are only three solid things to emerge from this:
First, that Henry is confirmed as a hypocritical cunt. What's with his sitting down with Dunne at the end of the game to express his sympathy or solidarity? Fuck off. If you're going to claim the goal then at least have the balls to accept responsibility for it rather than trying to paint yourself as some kind of magnanimous victim of circumstances. Fuck off.
Secondly, that the call for video replay gets a boost - the idea of a coach having one challenge per match, say, seems to me quite a good one.
And thirdly, that if FIFA have any balls and integrity, they will ban Henry for the duration of the World Cup. That is the only way they can put their metaphorical money where their metaphorical mouth is and urge - clearly hypocritically - that fair play is more important than winning. If they were to do that, then they'd at least be being a little bit conceptually consistent. Should they replay the game or any part of it? Clearly not - refs make mistakes all the time. Nailing Henry would be the way to show that next time the player will be expected to show sportsmanship rather than wonderful Italian furbizia.

[maro]

This is so true:
http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/ ... 72,00.html

[vtec]

the french have not been making any excuses for it as far as i know and they hate domenech even more than the italians do. looking at the replays, though, it was a really sneaky handball, and unless the linesmen had the perfect angle, it was a very difficult one to spot. perhaps they should be faulted more for missing the offside.

[San Paolo]

Roy Keane has lambasted the Republic of Ireland's attempts to get their controversial World Cup play-off match against France replayed.

The Republic appealed to Fifa after their 2-1 aggregate defeat by France on the basis that the winning goal came after a blatant Thierry Henry handball.

But Ipswich boss Keane said: "They can complain all they want but France are going to the World Cup - get over it.

"France were there for the taking and Ireland didn't do it. Same old story."

The Irishman, who made 65 appearances for the Republic as a player, continued: "If I'd been there in the dressing room after the game, I wouldn't be talking about the handball. I'd focus on why the defenders didn't clear it. They should've cleared it.

"I'd be more annoyed with my defenders and my goalkeeper than Thierry Henry. How can you let the ball bounce in your six-yard box? How can you let Thierry Henry get goal-side of you? If the ball goes into the six-yard box, where the hell is my goalkeeper?

"These are skills and lessons you learn as a schoolboy.

"Ireland had their chances in the two games and they never took them. They had chances at Croke Park (in the first leg) and they had chances on Wednesday.

"They didn't take them, but it's the usual FAI (Football Association of Ireland) reaction - 'we've been robbed, the honesty of the game...' It's rubbish."

And Keane pointed out that controversial decisions went Ireland's way in the qualifying campaign, not least a harsh penalty award against Georgia which helped them to clinch a 2-1 qualifying win in February.

"There was one match against Georgia where Ireland got a penalty and it was one of the worst decisions I've ever seen which changed the whole course of the game.

"I don't remember the FAI after the game saying we should give them a replay."

Keane's antipathy towards the FAI stems back to the Pacific island of Saipan in 2002 when he left the team's pre-World Cup training camp, complaining that the facilities were sub-standard.

Despite the efforts of the media, Keane and manager Mick McCarthy failed to resolve the conflict and Keane missed the World Cup.
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Nice one Roy!

[San Paolo]

As shieldy said, landslide

[maro]

What a pathetic knobcheese:
http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/ ... 93,00.html
What wonderful integrity he has - prattling on about this safe in the knowledge that he got the job done. I wish the prick would just shut the fuck up instead of trying to have it both ways. Fuck off.

[red]

Roy Keane is a prick, but he is absolutely right.

I'm generally against using technology, but allowing the Coach/Captain one or two challenges per game would seem, on the face of it, to be quite a good option.

[stefano]

Why not also just review every goal?

[Italiamia]