By David Hamill

Amidst the mayhem of one of the most contentious incidents in recent football history, it has come down to the former captain of the nation that feels wronged to make sense of the madness.

As much as it will hurt the magnificently spirited Republic of Ireland team and their fans, demanding a replay to their infamous World Cup play-off tie with France is not the answer. For a start, what would happen if another controversial decision decided the outcome, possibly in Ireland’s favour? Then they would be the villain. What needs addressed is the wider issue.

There have been many views this week but those vented by Roy Keane take some beating. Typically there was no holding back, and what might appear to be a scathing attack is something that is brutally honest. The French were there for the taking and Ireland failed to bury them in 90 minutes. Giovanni Trapattoni’s side were vastly superior in the Stade de France and a 3-0 scoreline in normal time would not have flattered them.

It was actually their best performance since Keane was at the heart of the ten-man victory over Holland that eventually led to qualification for the 2002 World Cup and dispels the myth from many panelists and observers that Ireland aren’t good enough to compete with the world’s best.

But the opportunity was there to put the French to the sword and as gallantly as they tried, they couldn’t quite manage it. While they outplayed the 1998 World Cup champions in front of Zidane, Barthez, Sarkozy et al, the tie was over two legs and the performance in the first leg always has repercussions in the return.

And it was the mindset of players on yellow cards in the first encounter that Keane referred to that proved damaging. Some players were afraid of suspension and stood off the French – even Keith Andrews admitted after the clash in Dublin it played on his mind.

It’s a threshold Keane found himself in while playing for Manchester United in the 1999 Champions League semi-final, and despite being a booking away from missing the final, he didn’t hold back and sacrificed himself to produce one of the best displays of his career to help his team emerge from their last-four tie with Juventus.

If you don’t measure up in the first-leg, you can’t legislate for what the officials and Thierry Henry are going to do even if you play a blinder and deservedly win the return leg.

And as Keane correctly points out, Ireland had a chance to clear the ball before it bounced in their six-yard box, well before Henry’s double handball.

It was no coincidence that France hit it long into the area vacated by John O’Shea, and with the Manchester United player absent after his second-half withdrawal due to injury it was the first time over the two legs Henry got in behind Ireland’s defence.

But there’s no getting away from it. It was cheating and Henry’s response after the goal went in and the inflammatory comments he made after the game, in which he denied he handled the ball deliberately, only made the situation worse.

FIFA can’t ignore what happened – there has to be goal-line technology for games of this importance and retrospective punishment. Players keep cheating because they are allowed to get away with it but if they knew they were going to be banned if they didn’t own up, it would soon put a stop to it.

But calls for a replay are laughable, and yet again Keane’s remarks about the Football Association of Ireland were spot-on. What goes around comes around indeed, and when the FAI isolated him at the 2002 World Cup and treated the squad with contempt by giving them third world facilities to prepare for the competition, they cheated the players and fans out of what could have been a special competition for Ireland.

Before they get a chance to turn the situation on its head and leave a bad taste in the mouth, the FAI should allow the Irish team to move on and take heart from the fact that yet again, they have proved they can compete at international level. Ireland should go into the Euro 2012 campaign believing they can qualify without fearing anyone.

FIFA and UEFA got their wish – they wanted France there from the start, but Ireland’s heart and passion, which is a rare thing in international football these days, and the best supporters in the world will be sorely missed in South Africa.