FanHouse Thierry Henry

LONDON (AP) -- Thierry Henry denied Friday that he was a cheat but said the "fairest solution" would be to replay the France-Ireland World Cup playoff that was decided by his handball.

Henry set up the deciding goal for William Gallas by controlling the ball with his hand in Wednesday's 1-1 draw at the Stade de France. The goal in extra time gave France a spot in next year's World Cup with a 2-1 aggregate victory over Ireland after two legs of the playoffs.

France advanced to the 2010 World Cup thanks to a no-call on a Thierry Henry hand ball that set up the William Gallas' overtime goal. Not surprisingly, the Irish side was incensed, and Henry bluntly stated after the match that, "I will be honest, it was a hand ball. But I'm not the ref ... I played it. The ref allowed it. That's a question you should ask him", probably didn't help.

Hand balls are a part of soccer and they go uncalled all the time. The difference in Henry's case is that it couldn't have been more obvious if he caught the ball and threw it in the goal.

Upshot: the hand ball no-call has drawn comparisons to Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" goal against England during the 1986 World Cup.

Both videos after the jump.

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) - France qualified for its fourth consecutive World Cup when officials missed an obvious hand ball by Thierry Henry that led to William Gallas' overtime goal in a 1-1 tie against Ireland on Wednesday night.

Les Bleus avoided a penalty-kicks shootout and won the home-and-home, total-goals playoff 2-1, boosted by its 1-0 victory at Dublin last Saturday.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

They are the hottest soccer (aka futbol) team on the planet. They're FC Barcelona, which last season captured three titles, including the UEFA Champions League title, making them numero uno in Europe. These days Barcelona is in the middle of a three-city U.S. tour, visiting Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco this week. In this FanHouse video, we get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the team's workout, which is normally closed off to outsiders. Find out what's it like to be a teammate of Lionel Messi, what fans do to get a glimpse of their favorite stars and more.

Check out the video after the jump.

Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash presented the 2nd annual "Showdown in Chinatown" charity soccer event on Wednesday in downtown New York City. The game benefited the Steve Nash and Claudio Reyna Foundations, and was an 8-on-8 match filled with NBA and soccer greats. Predictably, NBA stars Chris Bosh and Grant Hill didn't fare as well as the likes of Thierry Henry and Edgar Davids. However, international hoopsters, Nash and Tony Parker, definitely held their own on the pitch. Okay, now I'm just name-dropping. Check out FanHouse's look at what was a fun, if not somewhat awkward, game of soccer. The video is below.

Manchester United ... Barcelona ... the UEFA Champions League final. What more really needs to be said?

Wednesday night in Rome (ESPN, 2:25 PM ET) the best team in Europe will be crowned in a contest pitting the champions of what are considered the two top professional leagues in the world -- the (English) Premier League and La Liga. Oh right, there's the juicy subplot between two of the world's best players, too, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi squaring off at the Stadio Olimpico.

The FanHouse previously noted the Tiger Woods-Roger Federer Nike ad, but the world's best golfer and tennis player are back, this time with one of the world's best soccer players, Thierry Henry, in a commercial about ... razors.

Yeah, I thought it was kinda weird too. But it get's weirder: Henry replaces David Beckham as the spokesperson for Gillette Fusion Power Blades. I don't think that distinction much matters to the U.S.-viewing audiences. The Gillette folks could've replaced Becks with Eric Cantona and the "who the hell is that guy with Tiger and Roger?" response would've been the same.

It's not surprising to see professional athletes hawking random junk, but this seems so ... beneath Woods. I mean, he's all about American Express, fancy watches and old-people mobiles. Razor ads are something you do right after you declare bankruptcy and right before your two-week stint on Hollywood Squares. I'm not knocking Tiger -- it's not like he's decided to become a pro wrestler or something -- and I'm sure he got a nice chunk of change for a few hours' work, it's just bizarre.

If you're into this type of thing -- and I can't imagine you would be, but I thought the same thing about the American Office -- behind-the-scenes footage of the making of the commercial after the jump. Woohoo!

Beckham preferred for canasta, whist, and tea.

Is this news? I would expect most women in England would like to sex up a multimillionaire athlete who -- bonus! -- is Frenchy French French; you can count actress Helen Mirren in:

Last week, the great actress Helen Mirren was asked by The Stage which footballer she preferred, Beckham or Thierry Henry. "For sex," she said, "Thierry Henry, but for companionship David Beckham, because he is such a lovely, sweet man."

Yikes? Though Mirren is in the 99th percentile when it comes to women her age, the only thing I've seen her in is The Queen. So I concur with the commenter who offered this up:

Now I've got a mental image of Helen Mirren as The Queen doing it with Thiery Henry.

Thanks for that.

Earlier this week, MJD pointed out quite possibly the worst dive in soccer history. AC Milan's Alberto Gilardino was rightfully yellow-carded, but given the horrendously poor execution, the referee would have been justified in sending him off. With that in mind, here's another Joga TV spot, which, according to its manifesto (or Wikipedia): "[Is] dedicated to eliminating unfair and unsportsmanlike play from football, promoting fair and creative play as well as honesty and team spirit, and showing the true and beautiful side of football by having a motto of 'play from the heart.'"

That's right, on the mean streets of ... wherever this is: "Dribblers are kings; divers are thrown into the pits." Sounds good to me. Interestingly, Eric Cantona, the narrator for these commercials, pleaded for more soccer and less ridiculousness leading up to the 2006 World Cup. Unfortunately, diving is as much a part of the international game as traveling is a part of NBA basketball. It's dumb, fans hate it, but for some reason, it's tolerated. Kinda like Carrot Top ... but different.