I've been watching this thread develop with bemusement at the predictable hypocritical hand wringing, breast beating and show of double standards that football gets itself into whenever these situations occur.
So a quick question - would the Irish politicians, supporters, players, coaches etc be jumping up and down and asking for a replay if Damien Duff had handled the ball and laid on a pass for Robbie Keane to slot in a late winner
Hmmmm, I guess we all know the answer to that one.
Herein lies the crux of the problem; until the games administrators (FIFA, FA etc) find a backbone and decide to apply appropriate and effective sanctions; until the coaches, managers, players and team owners change their attitude and publicly condemn their own teams for indulging in faking, diving, cheating; until the players and coaches stop the dissent, lack of respect and ritual mob intimidation of officials then the game will continue to spiral downwards and sink ever deeper into this cesspit of deceit and swindling that is its own making.
Sadly, as we all know, there is more chance of me being picked to play for England than this ever happening. Instead managers and coaches will continue to blame the officials when they see themselves as being transgressed against and of course they develop the Nelsonian blind eye whenever one of their own players is guilty of similar shameless cheating....and so the cycle is repeated ad nauseum, and nothing ever changes.
The situation FIFA now find themselves in is the possbility of Thierry Henry hoisting the World Cup aloft in front of a worldwide audience of billions clinically (and cynically) demonstrating that cheating in sport does prosper and is actually rewarded. It will also prove once again that Sepp Blatter and his FIFA mimions are a corrupt, servile, supine and craven organisation not fit for office.
Reading your shite talk is giving me a headache. 
