French captain Thierry Henry has received support from none other than Manchester United full-back Gary Neville!

Neville, like many, has offered his own personal take on the moment of controversy which saw the Barcelona striker blatantly handle Florent Malouda’s free-kick before squaring for defender William Gallas to head home the equaliser.

The draw meant that Les Bleus sealed a 2-1 aggregate win and thus progressed to next summer’s World Cup finals at the expense of Giovanni Trapattoni’s men.

Henry’s deliberate use of the hand has been universally condemned and led to calls for the match to be replayed by the Irish FA who inevitably were highly critical of the Frenchman’s actions.

Writing in his regular column for Malta’s Sunday Times, Manchester United full-back Gary Neville has moved to defend the Arsenal legend by insisting that the 32-year-old is not a cheat.

“There is no doubt that Thierry Henry handled the ball before crossing for William Gallas to score the goal that sent France to the World Cup and left Ireland's dream in tatters,” he wrote.

"[But] to label Henry a cheat is wrong.

"Everyone who has played football will know that when the ball comes up at your side, your arm can come out instinctively.

"We have all done things in football matches in the heat of the moment that we have regretted later. The referee has to spot these things," he stressed.

The veteran full-back then went on to back the calls for the introduction of video technology which he hopes can make incidents like the one seen on Wednesday a thing of the past.

“When there is a contentious goal, bad foul or penalty incident then the game is stopped for a period of time anyway, so a video replay could be looked at,” the Red Devil suggested.

“I said a few weeks ago that video technology has helped rugby and cricket; it is inevitable that it will be introduced in football one day.”