Originally Posted by
dom
Don't get me wrong, I don't expect our request to be granted.
But I thought John Delaney, in particular, did the right thing.
The politicians are just delighted to have something to row in behind and be seen to support the players and fans in the hope of deflecting all the recent criticism.
But Delaney has been very careful in his wording.
He has accepted that FIFA are not in a position to demand a rematch, so he has highlighted how the French themselves have admitted how unfair it is and has called on them, publicly, to show some sporting decency and offer a rematch.
Thierry Henry has already damaged his reputation, but now, in the glare of the entire world, the French Football Federation are under scrutiny to see will they do the admirable thing.
And of course, should they develop a conscience, and offer a rematch, there is no way that FIFA could intervene and stop it. It would go against their own Fair Play policy.
And considering how they are already being criticised for seeding the playoffs at the last minute to favour the larger nations they could not risk being seen to even further corrupt the beautiful game.
However, as i said, i don't believe the FFF will offer the rematch, so the reality is that John Delaney is being very shrewd and will look for compensation for loss of revenue that this unjustice has potentially cost us.
Lets not forget, that goal did not cost us a place at the World Cup as the media has decided to word it... At the time it was scored it cost us a penalty shootout against a team with better penalty takers in front of a hostile French crowd.
Our chances of progressing through that were slim anyway.
For me, this was the second time in my adult life where football has made me feel like a kid again.
Where something happens out of your control that you know is wrong, that shatters your dreams, but you are helpless to change it.
The last instance was when Roy Keane was dismissed from the World Cup squad.
I guess the big plus on this occasion is that this has brought the whole nation together.
It has galvanised us.
And we still have a fantastic performance from the Boys in Green to look back on and be proud of.
We have the confidence from that to take forward with us to the next qualifiers.
I'm not convinced that if there was a rematch that we could reproduce that performance.
So perhaps it is better to hold onto what we have and gain our revenge by qualifying for Euro 2012.
Come On Ireland.
dom