William Gallas headed in the controversial winner for France against the Irish on Wednesday, after Thierry Henry twice handled the ball before crossing.
He said on his Twitter page: “I’m not the referee, but if I hurt someone I’m sorry.
“It was not a beautiful match. It was just neccesary to exploit what was exploitable.
“The Irishmen could have doubled their lead two or three times. The ball ran up against my hand and I continued to play, the referee did not whistle and there was a goal.
“I would have preferred that it happened differently but this is not down to me – it is the referee. However, I do not believe our qualification is stolen.
“I said to Richard Dunne that the ball had touched my hand, but he told me, ‘you are not to blame’.”
