THE IRISH JOB

I had to wait a week for fervour to die down before posting my reaction to last week's World Cup qualifying mishap between Ireland and France. For those who don't know, here is what happened...

Immediately, two things crossed my mind

1) Excuses, excuses...

What is the diameter of the ball? What wide is the net? What is the format of this leg of the competition (Home-and-Home series, 2nd leg)? How much time elapsed since the start of the game? How much more time is left on the clock, and with that in mind how did both teams manage the clock to that point? Within the space of a week Youtube videos, Facebook groups, and online petitions focused on this five second play with almost no mention of the previous two hours of soccer action (minus Ireland's away goal that forced extra-time) as if what happened before and after never happened.

This was not the greatest non-call in sports history. This was not on the same scale as "No Goal" in 1999, "Denkinger's boner" in 1985, or even the FIRST "Hand of God" play from the 1986 World Cup. Ireland had TWO nights against the SAME opponent, which was weak compared to previous World Cup teams from France, to score but a SMALL ball into a BIG net, and in two hundred and ten minutes of game play only managed it ONCE.

Was France offside before the free kick? Yes.
Did Thierry Henry guide the ball back into play with his hand? Yes.
Did Ireland lose as a direct result of that play? Yes.
Did the referee and linesmen fail to catch all of these infractions? Yes; I get all of these.

However, given all the opportunities provided for Ireland to return to the World Cup for the first time since 1994, did Ireland win when it mattered and not rely on one five second event to make/spoil their entire qualifying campaign? The answer: _____

2) It's show business OR The FIFA circular file

I was writing for a half-hour on this subject alone, and I realized I was giving this more time than I should. Therefore, I decided on a more direct approach:

"It's show business"

Millions of people all over the world want to see Christiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, and Andrei Arshavin in the pre-eminent global competition; that is why UEFA 'hand picked' Portugal to play Bosnia, France to play Ireland, and Russia to play Slovenia (oh well, 2 out of 3 isn't bad). According to Wikipedia, these are the final standings of the group stages for World Cup qualification from Europe.

This is not the first time soccer referees and confederations got it wrong, but the reply to each of these occurrences is the same: Shrug, deny the existence of wrongdoing, put complaint(s) in soccer's circular file. However, in the event authorities do catch up with corrupt referees, confederations do the honourable thing with their previous employers: Cut and run. Don't believe me, does the name Christos Michas ring a bell? Check Wikipedia, too!

Soccer is like the lottery: We know something smells fishy, but when we're hungry we go to fridge.