Exclusive | William Gallas on Thierry Henry’s handball, France’s centre-back conundrum and the difference between a Classique and a North London derby
Get French Football News recently had the chance to put questions to former France international William Gallas. We talked about France’s defensive talents and derby days – but first, we asked about that goal…
Everyone forgets that it was actually you who scored the goal against Ireland after Thierry Henry’s handball. Were you aware of what had happened at the time? With hindsight, do you think anything could or should have been handled differently?
I knew it when I went back to the dressing room at the end of the game. On the pitch, I didn’t know it was a handball, so when I was in the box, I scored the goal. It was very important that we qualified for South Africa, playing the match in France. To play at the World Cup was so important in my career, and I was so excited on the pitch. When we went back to the dressing room, we were celebrating and that was when we heard that the referee didn’t see the handball.
It was the referee’s mistake, and that’s why we’re seeing more technology in football, and normally it would now have been VAR looking at that situation. As a fan, when you are watching some games, you can be frustrated because referees are making mistakes and not using the technology when it’s needed.
Who do you rate most highly amongst France’s current young centre-backs?
France have so many talented young centre-backs. It’s always the same question, though, and that is which one is going to be consistent? Which ones are going to be the starters?
Unfortunately, it’s difficult for William Saliba to be in the starting XI because you have Ibrahima Konaté from Liverpool and Dayot Upamecano from Bayern, and sometimes Saliba can be magnificent, but sometimes he can be a disaster as he’s not consistent.
That’s why it’s a
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