What do you make of the Henry-Hartman incident?
In Major League Soccer action last night, Thierry Henry’s celebration ended up spraining Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman’s MCL. Henry was attempting to celebrate teammate Medhi Ballouchy’s goal by slamming the ball back into the net, but Hartman put his foot behind the ball and ended up on the receiving end of Henry’s joy. Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman was furious that the referee didn’t yellow card Henry for the incident. Keep in mind, Henry was sitting on a yellow card picked up only moments before the goal.
Put yourself in the ref’s shoes: Would you have shown Henry a second yellow card for the incident?
You can also read MLSSoccer.com editors’ comments about the incident here: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/mixed-messages-debating-henry-hartman-incident
Alex Haueter is discussing. 
Alex Haueter 2:19 pm on September 17, 2010 Permalink |
I don’t think Henry is a dirty player, but I think the refs dropped the ball on this one. Hartman shouldn’t be held accountable for not realizing that kicking the ball back into the net is one of Henry’s trademarks, and Henry should have shown a little more restraint, especially considering that in addition to Hartman there was a Dallas defender sitting on the ground inches from the ball. Do I believe Henry that this was an accident? Yes, but the ref should have shown him a second yellow for the reckless nature of his celebration.