Thierry Henry, Thief

There really is no other word to assign to French striker Thierry Henry anymore. In a moment Henry destroyed a career's worth of goodwill bought in blood, sweat, tear and good humor, with a blatant hand ball. And it isn't just that the ball went off of his hand and resulted in a goal. Sometimes that happens with no intent being involved. No, this was a case of a deliberate batting a ball which was heading for a goal kick back into play. It was the sort of play that, had a defender done it, would have merited a straight red card. It was cynical, sad, and a mockery of the FIFA "Fair Play" signs displayed at every World Cup match these days.

Here is how Lee Dixon sees things:

I played with Thierry Henry for six years at Arsenal and I can assure you he was as honest as the day is long.

But people will look at his handball in the build-up to France's extra-time equaliser, which sent them to South Africa with a 2-1 aggregate victory, and say he's cheated.

That's because he did cheat. That's the way it works. I can live my whole life without murdering anyone, but once I kill my first person I'm a murderer.

He has been a truly great footballer - one of the best players we've ever seen in the Premier League - but now people will remember him for that goal against Ireland. It's really sad.

From listening to the radio this morning, I've already heard a lot of Arsenal fans saying Thierry's gone down in their estimations. It's unfortunate, but he's put himself in this position by a moment of madness.

Yeah, he is the new Maradona. No one ever disputed that Diego had mad skills. He was a true wizard. Now, he's mostly known as the "hand of God" cheater. OK, so he's known as the insane, drug crazed, tyrant loving "hand of God" cheater. Some improvement.

Dixon sees the same thing:

So I'm not surprised at all he stuck his arm out in the first place. That is not blatant cheating. But the second part, when he scooped the ball back, is the deliberate bit and that's what will taint his reputation.

If you look at Diego Maradona's handball against England in the 1986 World Cup, that was not an instinctive movement.

That's a cheating movement and you look at the second movement of Thierry's hand and say it's deliberate. Like Maradona, he knew exactly what he was doing and, for the Thierry I know, that is out of character.

I'm sorry, but that now is his new character. He cannot undo this...ever. This didn't happen in a friendly or in an interminable mid-season club fixture. Henry saw his chance to steal from the Irish players what could be their only chance to make a World Cup final (you never know,) and he took it, if not with both hands then with the only hand he needed. For older Irish players this is obviously their last chance to get to soccer's ultimate stage. Will Robbie Keane or Damien Duff be around four years from now playing international soccer? Probably not.

"Moment of madness" or not, that will be the legacy of Henry's career.