**Under-fire France striker Thierry Henry believes a replay of the World Cup play-off with the Republic of Ireland would “be the fairest solution”.**The Republic appealed to have the match replayed after an Henry handball helped France to a 2-1 aggregate victory.
But their plea was rejected by Fifa, while the French Football Federation will not advocate a rematch either.
Henry said: “Of course the fairest solution would be to replay the game but it is not in my control.”
With the tie finely poised at 1-1 in the first half of extra-time, the Barcelona striker twice handled a long ball into the area before squaring for William Gallas to bundle home the eventual winner.
The incident has attracted mass news coverage across Europe, but Henry - who admitted the handball immediately after the match - waited until Friday before releasing a statement.
“Naturally I feel embarrassed at the way that we won and feel extremely sorry for the Irish who definitely deserve to be in South Africa,” said the 32-year-old.
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“We want fairness and integrity in our sport - there is less and less”
neveratruerword
“There is little more I can do apart from admit that the ball had contact with my hand leading up to our equalising goal and I feel very sorry for the Irish.”
And the former Arsenal forward insisted he was not a “cheat”, claiming his handling of the ball was “instinctive”.
“I have said at the time and I will say again that yes I handled the ball. I am not a cheat and never have been. It was an instinctive reaction to a ball that was coming extremely fast in a crowded penalty area,” he said.
"As a footballer you do not have the luxury of the television to slow the pace of the ball down 100 times to be able to make a conscious decision. People are viewing a slow motion version of what happened and not what I or any other footballer faces in the game.
"If people look at it in full speed you will see that it was an instinctive reaction.
“For the sense of justice it is quite embarrassing to see. I think even France is embarrassed”
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger
“It is impossible to be anything other than that. I have never denied that the ball was controlled with my hand. I told the Irish players, the referee and the media this after the game.”
Henry’s former manager Arsene Wenger echoed the frontman’s thoughts, adding that the incident furthered the case for video technology to be used in future.
“For the sense of justice it is quite embarrassing to see,” said the Gunners boss. "I think even France is embarrassed. We didn’t play well at all and we won the game and won the qualification with a goal that was not a goal.
"At the game, I saw the referee giving a goal knowing that something was wrong and that is really sad.
“In the end, he gave a goal already knowing that it wasn’t a goal. We cannot accept that in our sport and you have to do something about it. The referee didn’t see it, I can understand that, the linesman didn’t see it, but they couldn’t get any help.”