There has long been a theory that Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry are simply not compatible. It sounds preposterous but ask any soccer anorak and they will tell you Zidane has never supplied the killer pass for a Henry goal.

Ever.

Henry arrived at Lansdowne Road last night with 29 goals in 71 international appearances. Zidane has been there for most of them. Who are the Irish to break such a fine arrangement? Henry furrowed alone up front last night. Zidane played in "The Hole".

Only a moment of sublime class would see one of them ruin the party.

The only problem with this little area behind one of the best strikers in world football, and in front of two quality defensive midfielders, was the other inhabitants.

Zizou may have redefined this position in modern football but there was precious little to be done when another former self-imposed exile is snuggling up beside him.

When the holder of every major medal in the game pushed alongside Henry, Mr Kenny Cunningham was on hand to snap at his heels, with Richard Dunne shadowing the Arsenal man.

It was all going perfectly to plan.

By half-time, winning the coin toss was all the Real Madrid Maestro had got out of Cunningham. But there were always dead-ball scenarios.

One such opportunity presented itself in the eighth minute, after a sloppy foul by Dunne on Henry, and Zidane duly obliged with a shot that seemed destined for the top corner. The ever reliable Shay Given intervened with a once-in-a-lifetime save.

All 36,000 people rammed into the old stadium knew it only took one spare blade of grass and something special could be conjured.

Maybe, just maybe now, Zidane wouldn't perform in these surroundings. It was after all only his second ever World Cup qualifier match - this largely being his own fault as France have not had to qualify recently owing to his headed goals against Brazil in the 1998 final.

They were hosts then and he only arrived in late 1994, incidentally, scoring twice on his debut against the Czech Republic after coming off the bench on 63 minutes.

By the second half he had copped on to the lack of breathing space behind Henry and drifted wide for possession. Still, to be effective he needed to come inside and Roy Keane was always patiently waiting. Memories of that disastrous Juventus meltdown in the 1999 Champions League semi-final may have returned to haunt him.

He did get one of the biggest cheers of the night when retaliating to Dunne tugging his jersey to earn a yellow card. Then he was gone. Hobbling off, to be replaced by Floret Malouda on 69 minutes.

It mattered little to France as the moment of magic that decided the outcome eventually arrived and for the 31st time Henry proved he doesn't need a sugar daddy to score goals and that there was more than one master at work last night.