Alex - you really do have to try and see this from the other way around. Let's say France are a middling national team, not a great one. Let's say they've played out of their skins to get into the playoffs. Let's say Fifa then move the goalposts by seeding the playoffs at the last minute. Let's say they then play out of what remains of their skins across most of two legs, at which point they are unexpectedly level against a much, much better team who seem strangely off-form. For this small country of France (imagine), pride and grit are hugely important. And then, when they've done all they can do, the captain of the much better side - a man who has carefully nurtured a public image that celebrates fair play, decency and commitment - deliberately handles the ball (twice!) before crossing it across the goal for another player to score. France is defeated. All that hard work, all that commitment, all that energy....counts for nothing. Because the captain - the captain, mind! - of the other team cheated. He used his hands to control the ball. Deliberately. Try and imagine how that would feel. And then try and imagine that the captain of the other team says after the match "it's only cheating if you get caught." If I were French (in this imaginary scenario) I'd be on the first plane to Dublin with murder in my heart. Then again, it's only a game. Allez les bleus!