First, make the decision for yourself:

Now, let's see how they're handling it among headline writers across Ireland (and the UK, no friend of France). With their customary grace and subtlety, I'm sure.

Irish Times: "Handy Henry Ends Ireland Dream In Paris"

Evening Echo: "Handball Cost Us Our Dreams"

The Sun: "Le Hand Of God: Cheat Henry Does A Maradona"

Irish Independent: "We Played Like Lions, But South Africa Will Miss A Hell Of A Guest"

Daily Mail: "Hand Of God II: Thierry Henry Confesses He Cheated To Rob Irish Of World Cup Place

The Independent: "Hand Gaul! Ireland Furious As Henry Snatches Victory"

Looks like we've got a full-blown controversy on our hands. Could this be the meltdown that finally leads UEFA to consider instant replay? Who's UEFA's president again? Michel Platini? Never mind.

That gave them a 1-0 lead, and after that, the French defense held strong, which isn't something you get a chance to say every day. The Brazilians forced the action late, coming pretty close to getting the equalizer, but the fact that they couldn't find that sort of urgency at any previous point finally caught up with them. The defending champions are gone, and soon, all the random photographs of phenomenal Brazilian ass will be going with them.

So we've got an all-European Final Four, including France, Germany, Portugal and Italy. We'll start previewing the semifinals tomorrow, so if you've got any pithy (I learned a new word from David Stern) comments on either of the upcoming matches, send them to mjd@deadspin.com, and we'll see if we can't put together a reader-inspired preliminary preview tomorrow.

Brazil 0-1 France [BBC Sport]

And this brings great displeasure to French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen, who I can only assume is like the French Trent Lott. He argues that the people of France can't take much joy in the success of the team, because it's not really representative of the French people. In other words, he'd like to see more whiteys out there.

Anyway, French player Lilian Thuram spoke up about it yesterday, and did so impressively. His comments, in part:

"When we take to the field, we do so as Frenchmen. All of us. When people were celebrating our win, they were celebrating us as Frenchmen, not black men or white men. It doesn't matter if we're black or not, because we're French. I've just got one thing to say to Jean Marie Le Pen. The French team are all very, very proud to be French. If he's got a problem with us, that's down to him but we are proud to represent this country. So Vive la France, but the true France. Not the France that he wants."

Eh, not bad. But for poignant commentary from contemporary athletes, I still prefer Todd Bertuzzi's "It is what it is."

We are Frenchmen says Thuram, as Le Pen bemoans number of black players [Guardian Unlimited]

Theirry Henry has a lot of love to give. Said Thierry Henry of his decision to stay with Arsenal for the rest of his career, "Of course money has contributed to a certain lifestyle for us and one day that will stop, but there's love, there's emotion, real emotion, real love." Wow. That guy really likes his team. It feels like there should be some sort of love song written about Henry and Arsenal. I think an 80s power ballad would work well.

Ukranian guy can't decide where to live with his hot wife. Andriy Shevchenko is set to make a decision soon on whether or not he'll return to AC Milan, or join Chelsea's empire of evil. Shevchenko, by the way, is married to the lady pictured to your right. Her name's Kristen Pazik, she's an American model, and you don't really have to search very hard on the internet to see her hooters.

Halifax 2-3 Hereford. I'm going to be honest with you, I don't even know what the hell league this was in. Judging from the second picture down in the news article, though, not a whole lot of people were too into it. It was a Conference play-off final somewhere, though, and Halifax is your proud winner.