Word: playfully
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French soccer player Thierry Henry has always been known as a gentleman. His anti-racism work and sense of fair play have earned him accolades and awards for years, including an appearance in TIME's 2005 European Heroes list. As of Nov. 19, however, many in the soccer world are calling Henry a heel rather than a hero, after his illegal play - apparently deliberate - allowed France to claim one of the final spots in next year's World...
...second time with a certainty that suggested it was deliberate. "I cannot speak, I am so angry," fumed Ireland's Italian coach, Giovanni Trapattoni, after the game. "All the European people saw we deserved to win or at least get to penalties. All I ask is for fair play," he said. (See the worst sporting cheats of all time...
...Insincere Cheat Who Has Tarnished His Reputation for Good," wailed former Irish international star Tony Cascarino in a Times of London piece. (That last one came with a certain amount of irony, given Cascarino's admission in his 2000 autobiography that he shouldn't have qualified to play for Ireland's national team from 1985 to 1999, since the grandfather he cited as proof of his Irish ancestry had adopted his mother. "It was no real big deal," he wrote of his own footballing sleight of hand. "No one could have been prouder than me to play for the Republic...
...will surely not be replayed - to do so would be to invite replays of any number of controversy-marred matches from the past (though Ireland's football association has now asked FIFA for a replay). But because FIFA has spent the past few years promoting the idea of fair play above all, it will be hard to ignore this altogether. "Winning is without value if victory has been achieved unfairly or dishonestly," reads the body's Code of Conduct. "Cheating is easy but brings no pleasure...
...unconvincing reasons for slapping video down. The cost of such technology, they argue, would mean leagues in poorer countries wouldn't be able to use video, dividing soccer into haves and have-nots. They also claim that the time taken out to consult replays would destroy the rhythm of play and that video would not fix all errors. Those objections were initially sounded in other sports where video later proved quite efficient in preventing referee flubs...