Titi's very upset, you know

By now, we’re all pretty sick of the France/Ireland furore, aren’t we? I’m sure the same is true of both teams and footballing federations, such was the predictability of FIFA’s stonewalling.

And so, after a rather exciting domestic weekend across Europe, there’s plenty for us to discuss instead of rehashing that galling double dribble by Thierry Henry last Wednesday.

There’s one person who’s still not over it though, and that’s Thierry Henry himself. The latest installment of his ongoing effort to rehabilitate his image comes with more emo than a Dashboard Confessional concert.

Take it away, Thierry:

Thierry Henry has admitted he considered ending his international career, and that he felt “let down” by the France Football Federation following his handball against Ireland which helped put the country through to the World Cup finals.

The France striker, in an interview with L’Equipe, also said he regretted his celebration after the goal. “Oh yes,” the France captain was quoted as saying when asked whether retiring from international football had crossed his mind. “Friday, when it all went too far, I was very worked up.”

The 32-year-old, who has scored a French record 51 goals from 117 internationals, blamed the French Football Federation for their lack of support. “The day after the match, and the day after that, I felt alone, really alone,” he said. “It was only after I issued my statement that the people from the French Federation got in touch.”

How noble of you! Did you consider retirement from international soccer with as much strength as you called for that replay after FIFA had categorically rejected all such calls?

I realize that you’re trying to atone for a shocking, egregious act of gamesmanship, but this is perhaps a bit much. So are you going to follow through with this rejection of the FFF and its World Cup preparations, your own unique and rather noble act of sacrifice?

“It’s not the first time [that I thought about retiring],” Henry said. “After the 2006 World Cup, I thought about it, but it was too early. After Euro 2008, too, but it wasn’t the right moment. There was a generation that needed me. Despite everything that has just happened and the fact that I felt let down, I will not let my country down.”

Of course you won’t! Much like you weren’t about to chase down the ref during the game and inform him of your wrongdoing, you’re not going to go ahead with this, are you? Can we honestly take anything you say seriously at this point? You’re no better than the legions of lefty rock stars and Hollywood fixtures who yelled to any journalist who would listen that if Bush won re-election in 2004, they were all upping stakes and moving to Canada. Not one of them did, and for all his apologies and protestations for fairness, Thierry’s standing pat, and he’ll play in next summer’s World Cup if allowed to.

I’m not surprised by this, and I’m equally not fooled by any of it. While there might well be some shred of genuine regret in Henry’s soul for his cheating in Paris last week, it’s been diluted by all this hollow rhetoric after the fact, aimed at repairing a fractured public image. Calling for replays is noble, but not after a decision’s already been made, and telling us that you almost quit thanks to some fundamental disillusionment at the French handling of the situation is rendered null and void by the fact that you concluded your interview by saying you’d carry on for the national team.

Like I said last week, I expect almost any player in the world would have given the ball a a slap if found in a similar high-stakes situation, and I have the same view of Thierry’s flimsy retirement talk. No player would up and walk away having done what they did. After all, wasn’t the point of cheating to get to a World Cup? Why quit on the team now?

So, all I can do is beg and plead of you, Thierry, to quit with the media tour of sadness and solemnity. What’s done is done at this point. Let people come to terms with it on their own without your empty soundbites.