 The French team struggled during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and finished second in their group behind Serbia . During the play @-@ offs against the Republic of Ireland , Henry was involved in a controversy in the second leg of the game at the Stade de France on 18 November 2009 . With the aggregate score tied at 1 – 1 and the game in extra time , he used his hand twice to control the ball before delivering a cross to William Gallas who scored the winner . This sparked a barrage of criticism against the Frenchman , while national team coach Raymond Domenech and Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger defended him . The Football Association of Ireland lodged a formal complaint with FIFA , seeking a replay of the game , which FIFA declined . Henry said that he contemplated retiring from international football after the reactions to the incident , but maintained that he was not a " cheat " ; hours after FIFA had ruled out a replay , he stated that " the fairest solution would be to replay the game " . FIFA President Sepp Blatter described the incident as " blatant unfair play " and announced an inquiry into how such incidents could be avoided in future , and added that the incident would be investigated by the Disciplinary Committee . Blatter also said Henry told him that his family had been threatened in the aftermath of the incident . In January 2010 , FIFA announced that there was no legal basis to sanction Henry . 
