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Thierry Henry has revealed that he admitted his infamous handball to Ireland's players, moments after he had ruined their World Cup dream.

The ex-France international set up William Gallas to score the decisive goal in the 2009 play-off match between the two nations to qualify for the tournament.

In the build up to the goal, Henry controlled the ball with his hand before squaring for teammate Gallas to finish in extra time.

Gallas' goal meant the tie finished 2-1 on aggregate to France , ending Ireland's hopes of making the finals in Germany the following summer.

Henry was widely criticised for his part in the goal, but has stated that he apologised to the Ireland players immediately after the match.

(Image: Getty Images)

Speaking to Canal Plus , Monaco manager Henry said: "“You are talking about people I spent so many times on the pitch with.

"I just said to them, ‘Yes, it was hand, I’m sorry.’ And you know what? They told me: ‘We don’t blame you.'

“I spoke honestly – it was a reflex. A reflex by a competitor, just like when you reach out for the ball on the line when your goalkeeper is beaten."

(Image: Getty Images)

The 41-year-old - who played club football for Barcelona at the time - was vilified for the incident, which saw France progress.

But Henry feels he received harsh treatment, and drew comparisons with a similar offence by his Barca teammate Lionel Messi.

He said: “When I see Messi scoring against Espanyol, diving to touch the ball with his hand, people say, ‘What a genius, now he is closer than ever to Maradona.’

"But when it was me, it was like I had killed someone.”

(Image: PA)

Ireland defender Richard Dunne was critical of Henry at the time, after the goal robbed Giovanni Trapattoni's team of appearing in the finals - a feat they haven't now achieved since 2002.

Dunne said: "“I think it was quite blatant that he cheated. The linesman was in line with the incident, it wasn’t even a hard decision to make.”

France were eliminated from the 2010 competition in the group stage, as they finished bottom with just one point after three matches.