Word: french
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...deception from Ireland were audible in Paris, the Irish weren't hearing any corresponding sighs of relief - and certainly no cries of joy - booming from France. Indeed, as the international furor surrounding Henry's handball showed no signs of abating Friday, the initially sheepish yet reassured reaction of French fans, commentators and politicians following their team's World Cup qualification morphed into something closer to shameful discomfort. (Read "France's Sweet Cheat Thierry Henry...
...French daily le Parisien ran a full-front-page photo of Henry reaching with his hand to control the ball under the headline "Le Malaise." In its Friday editorial, Libération urged French officials to join Irish calls to replay the match. The conservative daily le Figaro, meanwhile, was anything but hyperbolic, with its headline blaring, "Thierry Henry's Hand Has Become an Affair of State...
...Make that two states. On Thursday, Irish leaders aired outrage over France's illicit extra-time goal, including Prime Minister Brian Cowen, who said he'd personally take the issue up with French President Nicolas Sarkozy the next time they met. During a press conference later Thursday, Sarkozy met Cowen halfway, saying, "I told Brian Cowen how sorry I was" for Ireland's World Cup dreams having been derailed by Henry's actions, but adding that he couldn't intervene in an area that should be off-limits to politics. (See pictures of Sarkozy...
...other officials in France weren't as reserved about signaling their discomfort over the tainted win. French Sport and Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot admitted that her "feelings are split between what you might call cowardly relief and great consternation." Her Cabinet colleague Economy Minister Christine Lagarde went further, telling RTL radio Friday that she found it "sad to qualify by cheating" and saying the situation merited a rematch. In apparent anticipation of FIFA's ruling against that possibility, Lagarde then said that when "rules are bad, you have to call them into question...
...Politicians weren't the only ones weighing in. One of the main unions representing French teachers, SNEP-FSU, released a statement condemning Henry's "indisputable cheating" and said the initial comments by officials seeking to minimize the controversy reflected the attitude that "the most important thing in sport is to win." Jean-Louis Triaud, president of the Girondins of Bordeaux pro soccer club, said Wednesday night's outcome had produced "a bad image of soccer and a bitter victory." And veteran French sports announcer Thierry Roland called both the cheating and its consequences for Ireland "a scandal - a disgrace with...