Henry's hand of God saves France from abyss: press

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PARIS, Nov 19, 2009 (AFP) - A controversial handball by captain Thierry Henry helped France scramble away from the edge of the abyss and into the World Cup finals, French newspapers acknowledged Thursday.

Henry admitted after Wednesday's match against Ireland that the ball had struck his hand before he crossed for William Gallas to head home an extra-time goal which levelled the score at 1-1 on the night and sent France to South Africa 2-1 on aggregate.

"Miraculously saved from the edge of the abyss," said sports daily L'Equipe, the front page of which showed a clear photo of Henry handling the ball under the headline "The hand of God".

"France will take part in the World Cup finals in South Africa next year," it added.

"To get there, they held Ireland to a 1-1 draw after extra-time thanks to a William Gallas goal, preceded by a blatant Thierry Henry handball which the referee missed."

L'Equipe was damning in its critique of the French players, only goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and Gallas emerging with any credit.

"The evening was incredible, incredibly bad for the French team for a long time," said the paper.

French Sports Minister Roselyne Bachelot called on France coach Raymond Domenench and his players to "rally" themselves.

"First of all, we qualified but now everything's left to do: to build a real team and to develop a real gameplan," Bachelot told French radio on Thursday.

"My feelings are split between what I'd call a great relief and an enormous worry," she added.

"We had a France team that was absolutely asphyxiated, which managed to get a draw due to a terrible refereeing error."

France had put in an "altogether insufficient" performance, she said, adding that the team wouldn't last long in South Africa should that type of play continue.

"I really want to tell him: Raymond, you must rally yourself and your players because we, the French, are most worried and upset."