As Joe Bugner joined Jordan in the jungle, the Irish were left reeling from Henry's hammer.
The French striker hit his opponents with the old one-two - a little jab followed by a sly left hook - to set up the goal everyone's talking about. And I mean everyone.
I settled down to catch the end of Newsnight for a little respite from Main-Gate (I knew that O-Level French would come in handy one day) and there were Dara O'Briain and David Ginola earnestly discussing the merits of a replay with Gavin Esler.
Read the rest of this entry
Having had a break from domestic fixtures, we have all been focused on international football and I think now is a good opportunity to reflect on the way things are going for England.
I have to say that Fabio Capello has done an amazing job as England coach. The Italian seems to have instilled confidence into every player who has played for him.
Yet there is also the fear factor that you don't want to be the person in the team who slips up because he is the kind of person who can come down on you like a ton of bricks.
Capello has got England playing really well. The first time people really sat up and took notice was when we beat Croatia 4-1 away from home in World Cup qualifying. Having been humbled by Croatia in the Euro 2008 qualifiers, it just showed how far England had come in a short period of time.
Capello's England were first class from the first World Cup qualifying game to the last.
Read the rest of this entry
It's come to this, boys and girls. Thierry Henry, a man who lit up our league with runs so mazy you'd expect to find them at Hampton Court, the King of the Va Va Voom, charming, eloquent, possibly a bit up himself but you can forgive that... a player whose cut-in-from-the-left-curl-it-in-to-the-far-corner finishes almost have his patent on it, has cheated his team into the World Cup finals.
I'm in a state of utter shock. I remember Henry getting flak for a 'dive' in the 2006 World Cup to win a free-kick from which France scored a winner against Spain and I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Well, not anymore.
It's not good enough to say 'I handled it, but I'm not the referee.' It's like an admission of guilt from a petty thief when he knows it's too late for the police to arrest him.
Read the rest of this entry
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~07~RS~)
