( CNN ) -- Soccer fans should not `` dwell '' on the hand ball committed by French player Thierry Henry , former teammate Zinedine Zidane said in his defense Saturday . French forward Henry admitted to using his hand illegally to set up the goal that gave his team a 2-1 aggregate victory Wednesday against Ireland . France 's victory pushed Ireland out of a spot at the 2010 World Cup . `` What I just want to say is that Thierry Henry is not a cheater , even if it is a big foul and he committed it , let 's not dwell on it , '' former teammate and captain for the French team , Zidane said to CNN affiliate BFMTV . `` I do n't think he should take more blame . It 's a fact of the game that 's certainly difficult to accept for the Irish but something that happens very often on the football field . I just want to say that 's a lot for Henry to take . '' And Zidane knows what it 's like to be in the spotlight -- for the good and bad . Zidane won every major honor in the game , including the 1998 World Cup . But during the last game of his 18-year professional career , he head-butted Italy 's Marco Materazzi during the 2006 World Cup final game . France lost that match . France won Wednesday 's match that has some Ireland fans feeling cheated . Video replays from the game shows Henry used his hand to stop the ball going out of play in extra time before he passed to William Gallas , who then scored the goal that secured France 's place in the World Cup . The Football Association of Ireland ( FAI ) requested a replay of Wednesday 's controversial game , but the governing body of world football , FIFA , declined Friday . The Irish association also called on the French Football Federation to replay the game . `` We regret that despite our best efforts for a replay , which would have restored the integrity of the game in front of a world-wide audience , our calls appear to have fallen on deaf ears at the French Football Federation , '' FAI chief John Delaney said in a statement . `` Without doubt , the credibility of fair-play has been damaged by this incident in front of a world-wide audience . '' In its bid for a do-over , the FAI pointed to precedent set in 2005 when a World Cup qualifier between Uzbekistan and Bahrain was replayed after the referee was found to have committed a technical error . But a FIFA spokesman said the precedent did not apply to Wednesday 's game because the referee in the 2005 match `` saw the incident in question and simply failed to apply the proper rules . '' The FAI plans to `` continue to call on FIFA to take action to ensure that such damaging examples of cheating are not allowed to recur , '' Delaney said .
Former teammate El Zidane comes to defense of Thierry Henry . Henry admits a draw would be the ` ` fairest solution '' in a row . Henry set up decisive goals for France in their World Cup playoff with Ireland .