Compelling Soccer

The World Cup field is set but as is the way in soccer, it was not without controversy. The France-Ireland game ended in disaster for the green and orange as France drew level in extra time to win 2-1 on aggregate. The goal was scored after Thierry Henry played a ball with his hand (twice!) and then passed it on to William Gallas, who buried it with his head. The referee flat out missed the call. France went up 2-1 and Ireland couldn't find another goal. Thus France is going to South Africa. Ireland is going home. Naturally, Ireland and many others are rightfully upset at the non call.

It's bad, but let's put it in perspective here. This hurt their chances of qualifying but it alone did not eliminate the Irish. If the handball is called, Ireland still has to score. Otherwise, it goes to penalties. I'm sure they'd have taken that, but penalties does not necessarily a World Cup berth make. It stinks they got potentially deprived of the opportunity but let's also not pretend they didn't blow opportunities of their own.