This is how France got into the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
There was nothing legitimate about this goal. Thierry Henry clearly used his hand to direct the ball and set up William Gallas for the game-winning score. However, none of the officials saw it. The goal stood. France goes to South Africa. Ireland goes home.
There is plenty of blame to go around. Henry will be labeled as a cheat for all eternity. Referee Martin Hansson has been labeled an incompetent, even by the press in his homeland. Some will use this incident to call for video technology. Others will argue that the Europa League-style backline officials would have caught this chicanery, disallowed the goal and booked Henry for cheating.
It changes nothing, however, and it puts the lie to the notion that football is somehow supposed to be fair and just. There is nothing fair about the games we call football. How fair was it to England that Diego Maradona’s goal was allowed to stand in 1986? How fair was it to Missouri that Colorado won a national championship after scoring on 5th down? You can find plenty of incidents over the last century where someone took advantage of the ref and got an undeserved win out of it. Humans are fallible. These things will happen, and people will tell you that if you aren’t cheating, you aren’t trying. If you can’t overcome the treachery with your own play, you’ll just have to live with the result.
I know that’s the last thing anyone in Ireland wants to hear today. They’ll tweet bloody murder. They’ll agree with every word Robbie Keane said. They’ll point to the Frenchman in charge of UEFA and claim he somehow planned this. In the end, it doesn’t matter. The goal counts. France goes to South Africa. Ireland goes home.
Perhaps if karma counts for anything, France’s World Cup adventure will be as short as its EURO 2008 adventure. Hey, Raymond Domenech is still in charge. It wouldn’t be all that odd.
Three years ago, I wrote about Carolina Panthers v. New Orleans Saints game in which the Saints, down by four points with 1:56 left to go, failed to stop DeShaun Foster from getting a key first down and let him run into the end zone for a touchdown. The Saints then scored a TD of their own less than a minute later and made a two-point conversion, cutting the 11-point lead to 3 and giving them a shot at winning.
I suggested that DeShaun Foster was better off taking a knee after getting that first down, rather that running into the end zone, because then the Saints never would have gotten the ball, and the Panthers could have run out the clock with a 4-point lead. As you might expect, the FanHouse commenters thought mockery was the proper response to that idea, in part because the Panthers still won the game.
Three years later, Maurice Jones-Drew takes a knee at the 1-yard line for the Jacksonville Jaguars, setting up a game winning 21-yard field goal and preventing the New York Jets from getting the ball back. It was a riskier move, because the Jags were trailing by a point with 1:48 left, but Jones-Drew seems to be attracting universal praise for making a smart strategic play.
The point here is that you don’t give your opponent the opportunity to score if you don’t have to. This is why Bill Belichick really went for it on 4th down on his own 28-yard line against the Colts. Converting meant Peyton Manning would not get the ball, and the Pats could run out the clock. Punting meant Manning was all but guaranteed to get the ball and engineer a game-winning drive. Plus, Belichick put his faith in his best player — Tom Brady — to get the job done.
We shouldn’t criticize Belichick for choosing to go for it. We should, however, get on his case about the play he chose to call. Honestly, the coaches couldn’t have picked something better than that?
Here are some other interesting football stories you might have missed:
UNC serves up its most fortunate illegal forward pass since 1895. [WRAL FANKind]
Dan Marino inadvertently shares his true feelings about the Wildcat formation. [Awful Announcing]
Chicago Bears fans are sore losers, even when they win. [FanHouse]
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What better way to start the week than with an old guy flippin’ the bird?
Yes, Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams was clearly enjoying his team’s win over Buffalo yesterday, so much so that he proudly stood up, pointed at the Bills, and gave them the finger — two fingers, from the looks of it. Oh, and he did that in a luxury box with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell looking on.
I suspect Bud’s fine won’t be quite as big as Chad Ochocinco’s fine for that one-dollar bribery stunt. I also suspect Bud will gladly pay up. After all, what’s the point of having money if you can’t have a little fun spending it?
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Three years ago, I wrote about Carolina Panthers v. New Orleans Saints game in which the Saints, down by four points with 1:56 left to go, failed to stop DeShaun Foster from getting a key first down and let him run into the end zone for a touchdown. The Saints then scored a TD of their own less than a minute later and made a two-point conversion, cutting the 11-point lead to 3 and giving them a shot at winning.
