Henry picks Ireland’s pocket

A blatant handball by Thierry Henry has denied Ireland a place at next year’s World Cup finals. An inspired performance by Giovanni Trapattoni’s side saw them force extra-time against the former World Champions after Robbie Keane’s expertly-taken goal, cancelled-out last Saturday’s defeat at Croke Park. But Henry set-up William Gallas for an extra-time equaliser that put the home side through 2-1 on aggregate. Keane finished-off a brilliant attacking move in the 33rd minute, which saw Damien Duff cut it back into his path and the Irish skipper side-footed expertely into the corrner of the net. The visitor’s performance deserved another goal but John O’Shea and Damien Duff both missed cut chances to win the game in the ninety minutes. But extra-time was dominated by a moment of controversy from Henry as the effort of the Irish players started to take it’s toll. The France captain twice used his hand to control the ball on the touch-line before he played the ball across Shay Given to give Gallas a simple tap-in from close-range, which killed-off the Irish challenge.