You might have guessed what i'm talking about Ireland's World Cup 2010 play-off match. We've been working really hard to reach South Africa ever since we miracolously signed Giovanni Trapatonni as our manager in early 2008. We finishrd 2nd in our qualifying group behind Italy and then the unthinkable happened. FIFA decided to seed the play-off games meaning we had to face 2006 finalists, France. But that's not all.In a good performance in Dublin last saturday night, the score was 0-0 with 20 minutes to go. Then , suddenly, France's Nicholas Anelka took a shot form 25 yards which deflected off the back of our central defender Sean St Ledger and flew past Shay Given into the top right-hand corner of our net. That put us one down on away goals heading into wednesday night's make or break second leg at the Stade de France.

In wednesday's match, Ireland put on what was definitely the best performance of this decade, at least since our win over Holland at Landsdowne Road in 2001. We closed down the French and were all of them in attack, deservedly taking the lead after a fantastic bit of football from Damien Duff set up Robbie Keane for a fantastic first-half goal. We kept up the pressure for the rest of the game, forcing the French into extra-time. It was in the 104th minute that everything went worng. The french took a free-kick that was going flying out into touch. The linesman somehow failed to see that two of France's attackers were offside when the kick was taken. And then somehow they failed to see a blatant handball. Thierry Henry kept the ball in with his left hand and then did it again to control the ball before hitting it in for William Gallas to score.

This is an absolute outrage. I don't really blame Henry, i blame the lineman for clearly overlooking this blatant act of cheating. The fact that FIFA are not introducing video refs into the modern game is ridiculous, as it would stop so many instances like this happening every week. There's tons of petitions going around looking for a rematch but we all know that's not gonna happen as FIFA can't risk France not being in the World Cup for financial reasons. What is Football coming to?

2009 has had tons of great games pushed back into 2010. Although this year has seen plenty of great releases like Resi 5, Street Fighter IV, Prototype, Halo ODST, Uncharted 2, The Conduit, Madworld, Scribblenauts, GTA: Chinatown Wars,Batman, Red Faction, Ghostbusters, FIFA, GH5 and Beatles: Rock Band along with the soon to be released Modern Warfare 2, Ratchet and Clank Future 3andAssassin's Creed 2, I'm already eagerly waiting for 2010 to get underway so we can get another great raft of games in. Here's 10 games i'm eagerly hoping to get my hands on next year. ( I don't own a PS3 so don't scald me for not having Sony Exclusives on there ).

Number 10: Call of Duty 7

I'm not too pushed on this to be honest. I'm really looking forward to MW2 and i'll probably rent this for a few weeks when it's released just because it's almost definitely gonna be the fist time CoD has done the Cold War. I didn't think World at War was as bad as some people say and i think Treyarch did a pretty damn good job. I'd expect this to be a really good game but having played the last five Call of Duty games released, I think i need a year's break from the franchise.

Number 9: Metro 2033

Metro 2033 will most likely be released in the first quarter of 2010 and is a post-apocalyptic FPS about survivors who live underground. It's gone under the radar a lot and is recieving comparisins with Fallout 3 and Borderlands. It also faces strong competion from Darkworks' and Ubisoft's I Am Alive.

Number 8: UFC 2010

This years game based on the huge MMA franchise was a lot better than expected and to not much surprise THQ and Yukes announced they'd be annualising the franchise. Next year it'll be up against EA Sports MMA which has already signed on Randy Couture and Fedor Emelianenko to appear in it's game. It'll be a fierce showdown on the MMA front next year but i'll give UFC the benefit of the doubt for now.

Number 7: FIFA 11

Being such a big football fan, FIFA is always high on my most wanted list. With two fantastic back to back games allowing them to take PES' crown, FIFA is getting stronger and stronger by the year.

Number 6: Metal Gear Solid: Rising

Raiden takes centre stage as Metal Gear Solidarrives on the 360 for the first time ever. The game is expected to be an action game rather than a typical stealth game. Needless to say it's one of the biggest contenders for game of the year 2010.

Number 5: U2: Rock Band

Recently, an interview with U2's own Adam Clayton revealed that the band had turned down an offer from Harmonix to make a game last year. Clayton also revealed that the band, having seen the sucess of Beatles: Rock Band, are interested in getting their own game. U2 are one of my favourite bands and having grown up just twenty minutes away from where most of the band did, i'm really excited about the possibility of a U2 game next year. Will it happen? I'm also excited about the rumours of a Green Day game on the way.

Number 4: Fable 3

Having loved the second Fable game, i'm really excited about this third game. Although i do think it's coming a little bit too soon, the fact that Lionhead will probably allow the game to use Natal controls has made this game really interesting and this game could be the first to show the world what Natal can do.

Number 3: Halo: Reach

With ODST out of the way, us Halo fans can look forward to this, the next big installment in the franchise. The fact that Bungie have revealed so little about this game is why it's so interesting. It's probably gonna be a prequel to Combat Evolved, but you never know. I don't know how i feel about two Halo games in 2 years but with Halo 3's lifespan alomost finished, it's probably time for Reach. I just hope that after this, Bugie ( If they continue with Halo ) give us around a 3-year wait for another game, whch will hopefully be Halo 4.

Number 2: Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction

Conviction was one of my most wanted games for 2009 so i'll definitely be pciking this up on February 23rd. The game looks great so far and if it lives up to the hype, this could not only be the best Splinter Cell so far, but one of the best 360 games so far. Here's hoping...

Number 1: Portal 2

Portal is my favourite game of all time. A sequel has been confirmed. When's it gonna be here? I don't know. But i REALLY hope it's next year. Or i at least better get an announcement or a trailer. Holy Crap, i want this game so much. And remember, THE CAKE IS A LIE.

So the final for the greatest game hero just started and Gordan Freeman is beating Mario by something like 59.1% to 40.9%. Everybody should be voting for him. If you've ever played Half-Life you'll know what a hero he is and how he deserves to win. That's all.