It’s been 13 and a half years, and neither Richard Dunne nor Ireland have forgotten the hand of Thierry Henry during the World Cup play-off which pitted them against the France team. The former Irish international returned to the cursed episode in a interview given to The Team. “We talk about it almost every year in November, on the anniversary of the meeting, to point out that it has been so many years since it took place. And of course, every time we face France. Which will be the case on Monday evening.
Basically, Dunne doesn’t blame Henry for his gesture. He understands it, even. “He controlled with his hand by reflex and I would have been quite capable of doing the same thing if I had been in the same situation, he admits… And if I had contributed in this way to a goal of Ireland that night, I would probably have become a legend in my country. »
Remorse and Henry’s “staging”
On the other hand, the former Manchester City player had trouble digesting the comedy of Thierry Henry, who came to sit next to him at the final whistle to confess. “He felt remorse and he told me he touched the ball with his hand. I thought then “Why are you telling me? Couldn’t you have told the referee a few minutes earlier?” […] It was a bit of staging. A way to show that he is a nice guy and that he wants to apologize. “Not the kind of postures to which one is sensitive when one has just been robbed of a place in the World Cup.