From the Sunderland Echo: "You’ll be aware that Sky have recently signed Thierry Henry to join our team of pundits. He’s settled in very nicely and after the Chelsea game on Saturday night we got to chatting about my allegiance for Sunderland when his eyes lit up. Thierry started eulogising about two Arsenal games at the Stadium of Light which burned bright in his memory. The first was a 4-0 win on the last day of the season in 2003 when the Frenchman ran us ragged scoring one and setting up three for Freddie Ljungberg. “They gave me a standing ovation,” he remembered, “I couldn’t believe it.” The next occasion was in his second coming as an Arsenal player when he told me he’d left the bench to warm up and became aware the home fans were applauding somebody. “I thought they were cheering for a Sunderland player,” he said. “But then I realised it was me they were on their feet for. Again I was amazed, fantastic fans.” So there you go, Thierry’s practically a Mackem!" I remember the first one and he fully deserved the applause, but it's nice to see it's not just us who think we are fantastic!
How many of us wouldn't have done the same if it was the difference between world cup and no world cup?
still cheating .i have no time for a person who broke a nations hearts by cheating. Same as maradona cheating antics against England both ****ers as far as I'm concerned
One of the greatest players ever to grace the PL. I don't like Arsenal (or any cockney team tbh), but sometimes you just have to stand up and applaud quality and class. And he had both in abundance.
I think many of us would have handballed like Henry did! It would have been instinctive and without thinking! At that moment his desperation to win would have clouded his judgement for that split second! I'd like to think that I would have told the ref that I deliberately handballed. But with money being the main objective over sportsmanship nowadays, maybe I wouldn't have! I think it was terrible what he did, and I suspect that he felt pretty bad afterwards! If he had have notified the referee he would have been seen as one of the most honest players to have ever to have played the game. In hindsight he probably wishes he did, but with thousands of your fellow countrymen watching desperately wanting to qualify for the world cup sitting on your shoulders????
that's not cheating that's ****ting,nothing in the rules to say you cannot **** yourself,lots did when playing against Duncan fergerson
But if the ref or one of his officials hasn't seen it they can't give it. There was a big game where Liverpool were given a pen and Robbie Fowler told the ref he hadn't been fouled and the pen was still given and I think oppo player was sent off ( don't know whether the pen was deliberately missed? ). There have been other games where opposition have stood back and let the other team score following a dodgy goal. But on balance, that incident against a glittering career, he was v good and I was one of the ones applauding his performance that day.
And if one of the lads handballs on the line, and gets away with it, to break the hearts of "the Geordie nation" when we go on to win will you feel the same?
