Hugo Lloris has admitted that while Thierry Henry’s controversial ‘Hand of the Devil’ goal against Ireland in Paris ensured France won 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification.
The political rejection, accusations of cheating and subsequent supporters’ fall out turned them to pariahs in their own country and, following which, a disunited, fractured squad finished winless, exiting after the first round pool.
The future 2018 World Cup winner, making his sixth/seventh appearances for France at the time, and who had been labelled a rubbish keeper by Giovanni Trapattoni before the play-offs, was man of the match in both games.
Croke Park, he says of a game played 15 years ago last Thursday, was “unbelievable” and one of the best stadiums he has ever played in, the Irish national anthem was sung with a fervour “to wake the dead”.
“These two playoff matches to qualify for that troubled World Cup in South Africa hold a particular place in my career and in my memories, not only because they were major matches for Les Bleus and for me [I was only 22], but also because the media wondered if I deserved to be the number one keeper, especially after Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni had declared the day before the match that I was one of France’s weak points.
“That first leg of the playoff was a pivotal game, watched by 12 million TV viewers in the unbelievable arena of Croke Park filled with 90,000 fans, and the Irish national anthem belted out just before the kick-off, was a fervour to wake the dead.
“I had never seen such a huge stadium. I loved the passion and the hostility, they supercharged me. I knew that all eyes were on me, and not just because of Trapattoni ‘weak point’ comment.
“My grandma kept the press cuttings, all the headlines on the Saviour, the hero, the man of the match, two 8/10s in L’Equipe and after the first leg, headlines such as ‘France has its Goalie’, ‘A Perfect Leap’, and ‘Lloris makes history for Les Bleus’.
“Then following the second leg, ‘He Kept Them Alive’, ‘Thanks Again, Lloris’ and ‘Lloris, the Lone Hero. I was proud of having been on top of my game,
“We won 0-1 in Dublin (the goal from Nico Anelka), and even though I’d been told that the aerial balls would be truly punishing, it was those where I was most effective.”
“The match was a real battle, and there were no easy saves. The first one sent me diving to Robbie Keane’s feet to gather the ball in that very dynamic, almost extreme style I had at the time in duels, always going forward. The second was on an aerial ball in that second half, the subject of a wonderful photograph of me soaring above Kevin Doyle.”
And so, four days later, back to Paris where Robbie Keane would open the scoring after 33 minutes…
“Everyone remembers the second leg playoff at Stade de France, the Irish were 0-1 up pretty quickly, but that didn’t bother me particularly. I felt in sound shape heading out to snatch all the aerial balls, sometimes far from my goal.
“The match was so heated that, from my penalty area, I didn’t see Thierry Henry’s handball on William Gallas’ equalizer in extra time. And I didn’t comprehend the fallout from it. This playoff was a massive, uncertain struggle, but there wasn’t a single minute in either of the two games when we risked elimination.
“When Thierry Henry controlled the ball with his hand, we were heading into a penalty shoot out, maybe, but we weren’t out of contention. I thought it terribly unfair the treatment meted out to Titi. I had the feeling he was being made to pay for something else. I didn’t understand the debate in France.
“Even when the Irish goalie Shay Given came up for the last corner, when we were 1-1 and already had our qualification for the World Cup in the bag, I came out to intercept and block the ball.
“We didn’t control much in that return match. It’s true – we were gripped by the fear of losing it all, and the fans were spooked – but the jitteriness hadn’t affected me. Those were days where a big step forward in my career in blue. From that moment on, people looked at me differently.
“You really have to have zero sporting culture to want the match to be replayed when such events lie at the very heart of the history and mythology of the game. Why was Maradona’s handball the Hand of God and Titi’s the Hand of the Devil, when both derived From exactly the same thing, a player’s instinctive reflex.”
Lloris says that after the game he was unaware of the coming media and political storm but as the 2010 World Cup approached things had changed irrevocably.
“Seven month later, I would almost be reproached for having helped the French team qualify. We lost 0-2 to Spain, weighed down by the controversies and the fever surrounding our return match against Ireland. A negative atmosphere surrounded us, with French politicians leveraging our poor performance for their own purposes, not to mention demonstrating their lack of sporting culture.
“They reproached us for having cheated, despite that instance of handball being part of the game – you only have to have played footie in a school playground to realise this. Everything was wonky. I see no other way to describe this.”
An unhappy France campaign, marked by a players’ strike at one point, would subsequently draw with Uruguay (0-0), lose to Mexico (0-2) and South Africa (1-2, early red card for Gourcuff contributing) and fly home heads bowed. Price paid?
*Earning My Spurs – Hugo Lloris (published by Quercus) – read it and weep