Cunningham dismisses suggestions Henry cheated
Cunningham said he could have been castigated “a thousand times” in his career if the parameters being used to vilify Henry were applied universally.
What’s more, the Dubliner reckoned that players understood the concept of getting away with what you can and accepted it.
Speaking on Newstalk yesterday, a “devastated” Cunningham rubbished suggestions Giovanni Trapattoni’s men might get a replay.
“No chance. I don’t even think it’s a question of if Thierry Henry admitted that he deliberately handled the ball or not. It doesn’t really matter. You can call it cheating or whatever. If that’s cheating, I’ve been guilty of cheating about a thousand times during my career.
“Every time I block off a forward’s run deliberately, every time I pull an opponent’s jersey deliberately in and around the penalty box; that could be construed as cheating. It’s part of the game, it’s understood by the players and it’s accepted.’’
Cunningham said he hadn’t seen Henry approach the referee and doubted whether the Barcelona striker had told him he had handled the ball as he was celebrating with his team-mates.
He did have some sympathy for Swedish official, Martin Hansson, however.
“There’s no way he could have seen the incident; there was too many bodies between him and Thierry Henry.
“Probably the best person who could have made the decision was the linesman, but even he was 40 yards away.
“There was a lot of talk about video evidence after the game. What’s interesting is that (UEFA president) Michel Platini’s new initiative in terms of a referee behind the goal, which is being implemented in the Europa League this season, probably would have been the answer on this occasion.
“A referee behind the goal would have been no more than 10 yards from the offence and would easily have seen the handball.”
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