Thierry Henry: Lineker & Shearer poked fun at him during France vs Ireland in 2016 | OneFootball

In case you didn’t know, Thierry Henry isn’t exactly very popular in the Republic of Ireland.

The Arsenal legend is adored by millions of football fans across the globe, but in Ireland, his name is normally met with angry retorts.

Why is that? Well, back in 2009, Henry’s left hand cost the Irish a spot at the 2010 World Cup and they’ve never really forgiven him for it.

The iconic striker illegally kept the ball in play with his hand and then setup William Gallas to score a dramatic extra-time equaliser.

That goal was enough for France to win the World Cup play-off 2-1 on aggregate and book a place out in South Africa at the expense of Ireland.

How the referee or linesman didn’t spot Henry’s blatant handball right by the touchline is anyone’s guess, but the goal stood and the former Barcelona man has remained public enemy number one in the eyes of the Irish ever since.

So when France and Ireland came face-to-face in the knockout stage of Euro 2016, the BBC decided the only course of action was to have Henry in the studio on punditry duty.

And as luck would have it, the infamous handball came up in conversation.

During coverage of France’s 2-1 victory over Ireland that saw them reach the quarter-finals of the tournament, both Alan Shearer and host Gary Lineker cheekily poked fun at Henry and to be fair to the man on the receiving end of the jibes, he handled it pretty well.

Video: Shearer & Lineker poke fun at Henry over France vs Ireland

Well played, lads. We even got a prolonged showing of the famous Henry mouth twitch to go with the studio antics!

It was certainly a tough period for Henry in the years following the handball incident, as it was the first time he’d ever been viewed as the ‘bad guy’ by a large group of people.

But at the end of the day, can anyone really blame him for what he did? In the grand scheme of things, not really, and even the Irish players on the pitch felt that way.

“You are talking about people I spent so many times on the pitch with,” Henry told Canal Plus when he was AS Monaco manager.

“I just said to them, ‘Yes, it was hand, I’m sorry.’ And you know what? They told me: ‘We don’t blame you.’

“I spoke honestly – it was a reflex. A reflex by a competitor, just like when you reach out for the ball on the line when your goalkeeper is beaten.”

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