Henry considered quitting

France captain Thierry Henry admits he considered retiring from international football following the uproar over the goal which sent Les Bleus to the World Cup finals. The Barcelona forward's blatant handball in the build-up to William Gallas' extra-time equaliser went unpunished and sent the French through 2-1 on aggregate against the Republic of Ireland. Now Henry knows his reputation will always be marked by events in Paris and claims he contemplated retiring before opting to continue his France career. He said: "Yes, I asked myself the question. Without the support of my family, I perhaps would not have made the same decision. "After the game, and even for the next two days, I felt alone, truly alone. It was only after I sent my statement that people from the French federation appeared." The former Arsenal striker released a statement claiming a replay of the World Cup qualification play-off would be "the fairest solution" just hours after Fifa had ruled that the result could not be changed and the match could not be replayed. But he insisted: "We worked on this release with my lawyer without knowledge that the international federation would meet the same day on the subject." Henry, France's record scorer with 51 goals, opted to celebrate with his team-mates rather than immediately admit his handball offence to the referee and concedes now that was a mistake. He said: "I should not have done it. But frankly, it was uncontrollable. After all that had happened... yes, I regret it. That's why after I spoke with the Irish one by one."

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ITN | November 23, 2009

Tags:. .UK News. .frankly. .quitting. .fairest. .paris