Richard Dunne on Henry’s reaction to 2009 handball against Ireland: “nonsense.”

In an interview in today’s L’Équipe, former Irish international defender Richard Dunne discussed his team’s infamous World Cup play-off against France in 2009, in which the game was decided by a Thierry Henry handball in the lead-up to William Gallas’ winner.

Les Bleus had won the first leg 1-0 thanks to a Nicolas Anelka goal, but in the second match, at the Stade de France, the visitors had taken the lead after half an hour before the then-Arsenal defender’s winner in extra-time. The former Manchester City defender tells L’Équipe that he did not see the handball in real time, but realised that something was wrong from Kevin Kilbane and Shay Given’s reactions.

Dunne notably explains that he “understood” Henry’s instinctive reaction to handle the ball when it fell to him, but was unhappy about the forward sitting down next to him after the game to speak with him:

“He felt regret and told me he had handballed it. I was thinking, why are you telling me this? Could you not have told the referee a few minutes ago? It was a difficult moment for me because I was dejected from our elimination, and his admission made it even worse for me.”

The ex-defender also insists that he would not have done the same thing in Henry’s position, adding that he has since never spoken to the former France forward:

“Absolutely not. What Henry did at that moment was a bit of showmanship. A way to show that he was a nice guy and that he wanted to apologise… It was nonsense. “

He also points out that the way in which Ireland were knocked out was all the more hurtful given the fiasco that was France’s 2010 World Cup campaign, notably featuring a player strike before crashing out at the group stage:

“When you qualify for a World Cup, the minimum you have to do is respect the tournament. You got the impression that the French players were only thinking of themselves and didn’t realise how lucky they were to be in South Africa.”

The two sides face off again today, this time for a Euro 2024 qualifier. France currently sit top of the group after a 4-0 win over The Netherlands on Friday evening, while tonight’s match in Dublin will be the hosts’ first of their campaign.

GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin