Irish FA respond to outcry with playoff replay call
Published on Fri, Nov 20, 2009 at 09:40 | Source : Reuters
Updated at Fri, Nov 20, 2009 at 14:39
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Irish FA respond to outcry with playoff replay call
The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) responded to national outrage on Thursday by calling on FIFA to order a replay of the controversial World Cup playoff against France.
However, Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni added a touch more realism into the debate, telling a news conference it would be impossible to replay the match.
"I cannot ask this because I know it is impossible. When a referee decides, it ends the game for me," he said.
The Italian instead criticised FIFA's late decision to seed the playoff draw and called on the ruling body to scrap extra time in similar games as it handed an advantage to the team drawn at home in the second leg.
While Ireland were understandably devastated, France were far from praised in the local media after William Gallas's goal booked their plane tickets to South Africa.
"The hand of God," screamed a headline on the front page of French sports daily L'Equipe, referring to Diego Maradona's infamous hand-made goal in a 1986 World Cup quarter-final.
"France have qualified for the 2010 World Cup, that's for sure, but the result, the most essential thing in sport after all, is not enough to erase the uneasy feeling we had last night," the newspaper wrote.
Keen to stop the matter descending into a diplomatic row, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said it was not up to either government to get involved in FIFA decisions.
"I will not hide to you the fact that I really preferred the first leg to the return leg," Fillon added to reporters.
