Gallas: An Irish player would have acted the same as Henry

William Gallas has reignited the storm around Thierry Henry’s ‘Hand of Gaul’ handball in the 2010 World Cup qualifying play-offs, stating that an Irish player would have acted the same had he scored a goal in similar circumstances.

Gallas, speaking before France take on Ukraine in Friday’s World Cup play-off, claimed that the pressure in the play-off match was greater than in the World Cup final.

“I believe it’s even worse than the final because you know that if you miss out, you’ll have to wait another four years before you can even hope to play in another World Cup match,” he said.