Very well reasoned and argued Alex. We will never know whether France or Ireland would have won on penalty kicks, which is where this match surely was headed. France have been so ineffective at scoring (despite having Henry and Anelka!), that I doubt they would have otherwise grabbed a goal before the end of extra time. I think FIFA are the real culprit here. But I am still extremely disappointed in Henry for using his hand like that. He's a much better player than that (or at least he used to be) and this can only mar his reputation. I think France will be eliminated in the group stage unless they get rid of Domenech. Honestly, the France team that made it to the 2006 Final got there mainly because of Zidane, and he's not around anymore. They barely beat Portugal in the semi-finals. And, despite completely dominating Brazil in the quarterfinals (Zidane's best match ever?), they could only manage one goal, and from a set piece at that. Domenech will not be as lucky as in 2006.