The Front Pages
Justice has been served. France are out of the World Cup and will return home in disarray with their reputation in tatters once again.
Our nation cried out against Les Bleus for each of their Group A games in South Africa and our pleas were heard as the host nation made sure of the French exit.
The Irish Independent gives Thierry Henry, aka Le Cheat, plenty of stick with a headline that reads, “End of World for Henry/Now hand of fate evens the scoreâ€.
Yesterday’s 2-1 defeat to South Africa brought the curtain down on the reign of Raymond Domenech on a bitter note. The France manager refused to shake hands with his South African counterpart Carlos Alberto Parreira after the game. Domenech turned to shake his own players’ hands instead.
The Irish Times headline over a picture of Henry and Domenech shaking hands reads, “Au revoir Les Bleus: Henry and Domenech in final handshake as France bow outâ€.
The Irish Examiner sums it up brilliantly in just two words, “JUSTICE POÉTIQUEâ€.
Tales from the Tabs
A bondage session got out of hand at the Waldorf Hilton hotel in London and ended with a lawyer getting his face slashed by his mistress, a court heard yesterday.
Married Neil Fagan (61) was covered in blood after his S&M session with long-term mistress Finola McKenna (46) went horribly wrong, as detailed in The Sun report.
Ms Fagan was wearing a tiny leather thong and nipple clamps when police raided the hotel room and found Mr Fagan wearing a sex toy ring on his penis.
Ms McKenna got a conditional discharge for cutting Mr Fagan and a suspended four-month sentence for biting a police officer.
The Sports Pages
England manager Fabio Capello insisted he is not cracked for thinking his players can still win the World Cup. His comments have been published in the Daily Star.
“We are one of the best teams in the world,†he said at the time.
Last night the 64-year-old added: “I’m not crazy when I say my target is still the final of the World Cup.â€
“I showed this is a really good squad and if – no, make that when – we win tomorrow then all the other teams will know they have to fight against us.
“I’ve got good players, but we’re not at the top like we played in qualification.
“This group is really good, but at this moment we’re down from their usual level. I know that, we all know that, but tomorrow we’ll be fit to fight.â€
England go up against Group C leaders Slovenia at 3.00pm today knowing that a win will guarantee qualification to the last 16.
