Football

Totally Thierry Henry: revisit the former Arsenal star’s best moments

Published on April 8, 2020

Scoring more goals for his club than any other player. Winning the World Cup at the age of 20. Making Danny Mills look daft. We’re doffing our caps to Thierry Henry this week, and why not?

After all, everyone loves Thierry. With the possible exception of that man Mills. Er, and the entire nation of Ireland, after Henry’s sneaky handball prevented Ireland from qualifying for the 2010 World Cup.

Still, let’s not dwell on that rare bum note – most of the time, Henry was pitch perfect. With 228 goals in all for Arsenal, many of them spectacular, the man is a bona fide footballing legend.

Need a reminder of Thierry in his prime? Whether tearing up the Premier League with Arsenal or chasing down the Champions League with Barcelona, Henry was fast, flash – and phenomenally talented. Let’s look back on the Gallic great when he lit up the footballing world. Va-va-voom indeed.

Winning the league with Arsenal in the Invincible season

This was Henry’s second league title win with the Gunners, the Frenchman having previously won the Premier League in the 2001-’02 season. In the ’03-’04 campaign, though, Arsenal would go the entirety of the season without losing a single league game.

And Henry was a huge part of that success, the forward scoring 30 goals for the Gunners in the league to make sure the North London club were crowned champions with four games still to be played. It was the first time in more than a hundred years that any team in the English top flight had managed such a feat (Preston North End did it back in 1889!).

Unsurprisingly, Henry cites this season as his best memory with the club, calling it “a hell of an achievement” – he’s not wrong.

Winning the Champions League with Barcelona

Henry came close to winning the Champions League with Arsenal in 2006 but couldn’t quite get the fairy tale ending he deserved, the Gunners going down in the final to Barcelona.

Just over a year later the Arsenal icon would transfer to Barcelona, and in the 2008-’09 season Henry would win an impressive treble with the Catalan side, winning the Copa del Rey, the La Liga championship – and the Champions League.

Though Henry didn’t score in the final itself, he scored five goals across this Champions League campaign, and his delight at winning the trophy was evident: “I think everyone will remember this Barça side. I’m delighted because I always wanted to make history at this club and we’ve done just that.”

Winning the World Cup with France at the age of 20

Prior to establishing himself as a goal-scoring great, Henry had already enjoyed remarkable success at a young age. Henry scored three goals in France’s 1998 World Cup campaign – the most of any player in that Les Bleus team.

Henry was on the bench for the final against Brazil, and the plan was to introduce him – but alas, when Marcel Desailly was shown a red card, French manager Aimé Jacquet had to improvise, meaning Henry missed out on playing.

Not that the youngster was too disappointed. “I was frustrated at first but then I realised I would lift the trophy and that felt good. I was only 20, it was not like it was the end of my career.”

Winning the Euros with France in 2000

Two years later Henry would again taste international success, this time playing in the final against Italy as well as winning the tournament – Henry was named Man of the Match into the bargain, too.

The Arsenal man would score three goals over the course of the tournament once again, his most crucial contribution being an equaliser against Portugal in the semi-finals.

More than a decade later, the manager of that victorious France team would shower Henry with praise. Here’s Roger Lemerre’s view: “He’s an exemplary person in football. He has an exceptional list of honours, he’s equal to the very best.

“And when I say the best, I am of course thinking about Pele, I am thinking about Platini. I think he has been just as influential as the greatest champions.”

We’re with you Rog. But let’s give the final world to Henry himself. Pigeon-holed as a fine striker (there are worst holes to be in, let’s face it), even back in 2003 the player wanted it known that he had more than one string to his bow.

“I’m not only a goalscorer. Sometimes people put me in the same league as [Michael] Owen or Van Nistelrooy but I’m not at all like this type. I’m not trying to be better than Ruud, but the one thing I was pleased with this season was the goals I gave. I think it’s pretty rare to see a striker with that amount of assists [23].”

No doubt about it, Henry was a beguiling individual who also understood the importance of playing for the team – and he certainly did more than simply score goals. Just ask Danny Mills…