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HENRY: I'M NOT THE REF
Henry celebrates with coach Raymond Domenech.
Thierry Henry has admitted that he did handle the ball as he set-up the goal which saw France defeat Republic of Ireland in their World Cup play-off.
The French captain caused huge controversy as he handled Florent Malouda's long ball into the box, before crossing for William Gallas to head the ball home.
The goal came in the first-half of extra-time, after the Republic had beaten France over 90 minutes thanks to Robbie Keane's first-half goal.
With the first-leg ending 1-0 to France the game went into added time, and the home side grabbed victory in the most controversial of fashions.
"Yes, there is a handball but I am not the referee," Henry admitted.
"I'm in the box, there are two defenders in front of me. The ball bounced off my hand, the referee did not see it and I played on.
"It doesn't change anything to the fact that I'm happy we have qualified."
French coach Raymond Domenech was pleased to go through, although he admits he did not see the handball.
"I did not see a hand. It's you people who are speaking about this," he said.
"Sometimes we feel unlucky like we were against Serbia, sometimes we feel lucky.
"I just want to congratulate the Irish team. I am disappointed for the public and the fans. In a way, I regret that they did not qualify.
"I very happy for the players and the staff and the people here. The only word we need to say tonight is that we are very happy at the qualification."
Gallas claimed he did not know that Thierry Henry handled the ball in the build-up to his vital goal.
"It all happened so quickly. I received the ball from Thierry. It happened so quickly that I couldn't see (if the ball hit his hand)," the Arsenal defender said.
