Time to get over Thierry Henry’s hand ball!

Double Vision with Charlie Adley

Let’s make a deal, in an attempt to live in the present: if I don’t mention England’s World Cup victory in 1966, you’ll move on from Ireland’s Euro 88 victory over England in Stuttgart.

Actually that’s slightly disingenuous of me, because I never mention 1966, save for when I explode with exasperation that the English media are still going on about it.

It’s incredibly sad the way both the English and Irish hang on to their far-distant footballing glories, while the Irish have unique abilities in the grudge bearing department. If I ever hear another word about Thierry Henry’s handball, it’ll be centuries too soon.

Yes it was painful, awful and all that, but he didn’t score a goal with his hand. He just bundled the ball towards William Gallas. Horrible, illegal, wrong: yes, all of the above, but he didn’t punch the ball into the back of the net, and – sorry about this – it was a qualifying play-off, not the quarter finals of the World Cup.

When Diego Maradona suddenly found his fist possessed by a holy force, his country had been licking their Malvinas/Falkland wounds for 4 years. His Hand of God goal against England was revenge delivered cold.

Anyway, a mere four minutes later Maradona erased debate, by dribbling past five England players (Terry Butcher twice!) and scoring on the greatest stage one of the finest goals the sport had ever seen.

Unlike the Irish government, who after the handball asked FIFA if Ireland could enter the World Cup as an unprecedented 33rd team, the English did what they always do: soak it up, spit it out in vile tabloid headlines, burn a few cars in Nottingham and come to terms with the fact that they were beaten by a better team.

Like Iceland.

To read Charlie’s column in full, please see this week’s Galway City Tribune.