Henry dismay at disallowed 'goal'

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LONDON, England -- Arsenal's Thierry Henry was furious after having what looked to be a perfectly good late equalizer against CSKA Moscow ruled out for handball.

"I am more than angry," said the French striker who was also furious at being given a yellow card in the incident.

Gunners manager Arsene Wenger was also left incensed by the decision by Spanish referee Manuel Gonzalez as his team were knocked off the top of Champions League Group G with the 1-0 defeat.

"I knew from the reaction of Thierry," said Wenger. "Thierry said: 'I swear I did not touch the ball at all with my hand'. It was his stomach, he said.

"Above that, why did he not get a red card if he handled the ball? It was a very bad decision, and we have to suffer from it."

Henry believes soccer should follow rugby's example and encourage better communication between referees and players.

The striker, who appeared to control the ball on his chest before firing home in the 86th minute, told Arsenal's Web site: "At first I thought he'd given an offside and disallowed it.

"But to say that I handled it and to give me a yellow card for handball when I didn't is wrong.

"People talk about footballers behaving like rugby players and accepting decisions. But rugby players can talk with the referee. We can't.

"When you come at them, try to speak to them then they don't give an answer and won't even speak to you. That is difficult to take.

"I would like the game to be a bit like rugby at times because in football you just cannot speak to referees."

To rub salt into the wound, UEFA confirmed on Wednesday that Henry would not be able to appeal against his yellow card.

"It is the decision of the referee," a UEFA spokesman said.

"UEFA would only handle a case like this if there had been mistaken identity of the player, which there wasn't in this case. UEFA don't go into any more procedure for a caution, because it's not as serious as a red card."

Wenger admitted his team had been second best for much of Tuesday's game, but was also concerned about the freezing conditions and the state of the pitch at the Lokomotiv Stadium.

"UEFA has to look into that because it is not acceptable that you play on pitches like that in the Champions League."

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