As a football fan, you get used to having your dreams shattered. Time and time again the team you support will let you down - sometimes spectacularly - but you learn to live with the disappointment, pick yourself up and carry on.

However, there is one type of football heartbreak that takes a very long time to get over - when your team is the victim of bla-tant and totally unacceptable cheating.

And that nightmare scenario is exactly what Ireland fans are having to endure after Wednesday night, when their World Cup came to an end at the hands of Thierry Henry. Quite literally.

With their two-legged play-off deadlocked at 1-1 and heading towards penalties, a freekick was punted into the Irish box. It took an awkward bounce, Henry controlled it not once, but twice with his hand and then crossed for William Gallas to score.

None of the officials saw it, which is understandable because of the number of bodies in the way. And that strengthens the argument for video replays to be introduced without any further delay. Either that, or the extra officials behind the goal.

But the real issue for me is not the introduction of long overdue technology. I have learned to live with the fact that football's authorities don't seem to care that players get away with things that the rest of the world sees on television.

No, the real problem for me is that the concept of fair play seems to be dying an undignified death.

How can Henry stand up after the game and admit it was a handball but claim it was accidental? It didn't just happen to bounce off his arm, he actually palmed it back into his path.

I can understand France's desperation. The once mighty team is not what it was a decade ago, and little Ireland were giving them one heck of a run for their money. But have they sunk to these depths?

More than anything, Henry's actions sent out a message to the millions of kids who idolise football players around the globe: if things are not going your way in life then break the rules to ensure they do.

The Irish football association has called for the game to be replayed, but that is just not going to happen. The rules state quite clearly that games can only be replayed if the referee makes an illegal decision. (Then again, as far as I know, the rules also state that you can't use your hands to control the ball...)

And while I can understand the anger of some people who are calling for France to be kicked out of the tournament, would it be right to punish an entire nation for the wrongdoings of one man? (The again, aren't Ireland being punished for just that..?)

Ultimately, France as a team will get their punishment next summer when they turn up for the tournament as a team tainted. Whatever they achieve in South Africa will be overshadowed by the knowledge of how they got there.

As an England supporter, I know what it is like to be cheated out of a big game. When Maradona used his hand to knock England out of the 1986 World Cup I was only a young lad, but it took me months to get over it. Even now, the memory is still painful.

For Irish fans, the knowledge that they may have been just a few minutes away from claiming their place in the finals before Henry got to grips with the situation will be equally devastating.

Their only consolation is that, in one moment of madness, Thierry Henry ruined his previously flawless reputation. He put victory ahead of pride and fair play. He sold his soul to the World Cup dream.

But even that won't put a smile on too many Irish faces when he walks out on to the pitch next summer while they sit at home, wondering what might have been.

Loving Mr Hart

Fabio Capello is apparently worried about his goalkeeping options for next year's World Cup. And I am not the slightest bit surprised. Any country for whom David James is first choice keeper has serious problems.

But the situation looks like it is going from bad to worse for Capello, with major doubts over whether or not James will actually make the plane due to a persistent knee injury.

If that were to happen it would leave the Italian having to decide between West Ham's Robert Green, who is solid if not spectacular, Ben Foster, who can't even get off the bench for Manchester United, and Paul Robinson, who is prone to more fumbling than a teenager trying to undo a bra clip on prom night.

All in all, not the most inspiring options you will ever come across.

Well, I have another suggestion: Joe Hart. The young Manchester City keeper is currently on loan at Birmingham, where he is putting in some seriously impressive performances.

He is playing Premier League football on a weekly basis, which is more than you can say for Foster. And he is not prone to the occasional clanger, which is more than you can say for James and Robinson.

I saw Hart play in the under-21 championships and he was a rock at the back, commanding his defence with an authority that belied his years. He is agile, strong on crosses and not afraid to get stuck in where it may hurt. His absence from the final against Italy was certainly one of the contributing factors in England's defeat.

Of course, the argument against him would focus mostly on his lack of experience. But I think if there is one position where experience is not always vital it is in goal. Being a good goalkeeper is all about instinct, and Hart has that in abundance.

And, in fact, there is a golden opportunity to give him the experience he needs during England's next few friendlies. Capello could, and probably will, swap between the obvious candidates for these games, seeing which one is least likely to be a match-changing disaster in South Africa.

But why not give Hart four or five games to see if he could possibly be the missing piece in Capello's jigsaw? If he shows he is ready for the step up during that trial period, then brilliant - England can go to the tournament knowing they have a quality keeper between the posts.

If he doesn't, then revert back to the James, Green, Foster, Robinson ensemble. It's not like missing a few friendlies will make any of those four any less experienced. Or any worse.

Most teams that win the World Cup have a youngster in the squad who comes through at the last moment and takes the tournament by storm. True, it is not usually a goalkeeper, but maybe it's about time that happened.

England's display against Brazil last weekend showed that, if too much of the first team is missing, they don't have enough strength in depth to have a proper impact anyway.

So why not take a goalkeeping gamble that could just prove to be the difference?

By George, it's over

George Burley's sacking as Scotland manager last week was entirely inevitable. He had been in charge for 14 games and won just three of them.

Under his leadership, the team lurched from one bad result to another and one crisis to the next.

But if Scotland fans are under the illusion that this poor run of form was all about the manager, then they are in for a rude awakening. Because Scotland's problem is a much bigger one than that - they just don't have players of a high enough calibre.

Burley may have been the wrong man for the job, but the truth is that even the right man wouldn't have been able to do a whole lot better with the limited raw materials at his disposal.

Scotland do have some good players but they are very short of great ones. There is nothing in the current crop to come close to the likes of Dennis Law, Joe Jordan, Gordon McQueen or Kenny Dalglish. There isn't even an Ally McCoist to lead the line, which is evidenced by the appalling scoring record during Burley's reign.

I agree that Burley had to go following the 3-0 defeat to Wales, but unless something is done at grass roots level, the new guy in charge is going to be facing many of the same problems.

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com