How Arsenal and France legend Thierry Henry enraged a nation

Thierry Henry is undoubtedly one of the finest footballers the world has ever seen, but there is a minor - or major, depending on where you're sitting - blemish on his record.

Back in 2009, Les Bleus were up against the Republic of Ireland in a two-legged World Cup qualifying tie.

To little surprise, France won the first leg in Dublin 1-0 with Nicholas Anelka giving his nation the advantage for the reverse fixture in Paris.

But the Irish surprised the 1998 World Cup champions at the Stade de France, winning 1-0 through a sensational Robbie Keane strike.

The tie went to extra time, but the score-line didn't stay in Ireland's favour for long.

William Gallas scored with 17 minutes left to play, but the result would be ushered out by France and they qualified for the 2010 World Cup.

The defender was assisted in the build-up of the goal by Henry, who handled the ball to keep it in play before crossing into the box.

It was heavily contested at the time by Ireland's squad, and after the game had finished the Irish FA and Government complained to FIFA.

In short, Henry's handling of the ball directly resulted in Ireland missing out on the World Cup in South Africa. While they weren't guaranteed to beat France in a shoot-out, the Boys in Green were denied the chance to find out.

Following on from the fallout of the "Le Hand of God", as dubbed by some media outlets, Henry is said to have considered retiring from international football.

France would crash out of the 2010 World Cup at the group stage - Henry played just 45 minutes of football and at the age of 33 announced he had played his last game for Les Bleus. He would play at club level for another four years.

The former Arsenal hero was handed no punishment by FIFA and the incident if often considered the sparking point for modern video assistance in football.