Henry warning over second leg

France skipper Thierry Henry headed back to Paris warning his team-mates their World Cup qualification mission is far from over.

Last night’s 1-0 play-off victory over the Republic of Ireland at a raucous Croke Park gave Raymond Domenech’s men a massive advantage as they prepare to complete the job at the Stade de France on Wednesday evening.

However, 32-year-old Barcelona frontman Henry knows there is too far to go in the tie to take anything for granted.

He said: “I am happy, but it is kind of half and half. There is still 90 minutes to play in France, so I can only talk about that and being happy.

“We have got another game on Wednesday and this Irish team is a very good team. They showed tonight they can score goals – fortunately for us, they didn’t and we did.

“We got kind of a lucky goal, but in saying that, we played well in the second half.

“But there is still 90 minutes to go, so I can only answer that question properly over there.”

France got their noses in front when the unfortunate Sean St Ledger deflected Nicolas Anelka’s 72nd-minute shot past Shay Given.

They might have increased their advantage in an impressive second-half display, but they were indebted to keeper Hugo Lloris for an 87th-minute save which denied Glenn Whelan a last-gasp equaliser.

Manchester United full-back Patrice Evra too insisted that his side cannot yet start planning for next summer.

He said: “It was not easy. From free-kicks, Ireland are a difficult team to play against. They had never lost [in qualification] – last night was their first defeat.

“They are a strong team and in the first half, we didn’t play very well because we just played the long ball and Ireland like to play against the long ball.

“In the second half, we came back with another mentality and showed our quality. We played much better football and that’s why we deserved to win the game.

“But it is just half-time. On Wednesday, we have a big game. Ireland will come to the Stade de France for a win and we need to be strong again and win that game. It’s very important.

“Now it is only one game. France want to go the World Cup – I want to win on Wednesday and go to the World Cup.”

After a tight first half, France took the game by the scruff of the neck and went close through Lassana Diarra and Anelka before the Chelsea striker finally broke the deadlock.

But the opening goal might have arrived three minutes before it did had German referee viewed Given’s challenge on Evra differently.

The full-back burst into the penalty area in pursuit of Yoann Gourcuff”s 69th-minute pass and appeared to be felled by the keeper as he advanced.

Evra said: “I am not happy because I think it was a penalty. If it was not a penalty, why didn’t he give me a yellow card?

“In the end, it was a good game – but he missed a penalty.”

Evra added with a smile: “But it’s not easy to give a penalty to another team when they [Ireland] are playing at home.

“You saw the Ireland fans – if he had given a penalty, maybe they would have come on to the pitch.”