PARIS: Former Arsenal and France striker Thierry Henry announced his retirement on Tuesday, ending a 20-year career in which he earned a place in the pantheon of modern greats.
The 37-year-old Henry, a member of the France teams that won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship, was linked to a potential coaching role with the Gunners after ending his career at the New York Red Bulls, but announced he will become a TV analyst.
Henry, who holds the French record of 51 goals in 123 internationals, started his career at Monaco and also played for Juventus and Barcelona. He netted 175 English Premier League goals and is the Gunners’ all-time leading goalscorer.
“You kind of never leave Arsenal. How many comebacks do you make? At one point, it will turn out to be a bad movie,” Henry said, when asked if he thought about another stint at the club where a bronze statue of himself has been erected.
“We all love the first Rocky, but I’m not too sure about the last one.”
Henry, who was born in the tough Parisian suburb of Les Ulis, started playing football at the age of six, and his talent did not stay unnoticed for long. Nurtured at the national football center alongside Nicolas Anelka and David Trezeguet, the astute, fast, and technical forward started his professional career at Monaco, where he won the French league in 1997.
His achievements with Monaco opened the door to the France team, and he was selected for the World Cup on his home soil. Although Zinedine Zidane was the big star of the tournament, Henry did not disappoint, and scored his first international goal in the group stage against South Africa, then a brace against Saudi Arabia. He also showed his coolness under pressure, scoring from the spot against Italy in a penalty shootout in the quarterfinals.
“When they (Henry and Trezeguet) had to take penalties against Italy in the quarterfinals it was no problem, even though there was a weight and a responsibility on their shoulders,” said Didier Deschamps, the then France captain. “It shaped the careers they would go on to have.”
After a disappointing stint at Juventus, Henry bounced back under the helm of Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger in 1999.
After failing to score in his first eight games, Henry netted 26 goals that season and went on to score 226 times in 369 appearances for Arsenal to 2007. He won seven trophies at Arsenal, among them two Premier Leagues, including the unbeaten 2003-04 side. He returned on a two-month loan in January 2012 during the MLS offseason, adding two goals to his English tally.
From Arsenal, Henry joined Barcelona, becoming part of Pep Guardiola’s side that won six major trophies two years later, including the Spanish title and a Champions League triumph over United.
His international career finished on a low. There was the infamous handball in the decisive goal against Ireland in a 2010 World Cup playoff, then in South Africa the team didn’t win a game, and refused to train before their final match, after Anelka was sent home for verbally abusing coach Raymond Domenech.
“It has been an incredible journey ... I have had some amazing memories (mostly good), and a wonderful experience,” Henry wrote on Facebook. “I hope you have enjoyed watching as much as I have enjoyed taking part.”
1998 World Cup winner Thierry Henry retires
1998 World Cup winner Thierry Henry retires
Hosts Morocco off to winning start at Africa Cup of Nations
- Soufiane Rahimi had a penalty saved in a frustrating first half for much-fancied Morocco
- Win saw Morocco, Africa’s best team in FIFA rankings in 11th place, to extend world-record winning run to 19 consecutive matches
RABAT: Brahim Diaz and Ayoub El-Kaabi scored second-half goals as hosts Morocco got their Africa Cup of Nations bid off to a winning start by beating minnows Comoros 2-0 in the tournament’s opening game on Sunday.
Soufiane Rahimi had a penalty saved in a frustrating first half for much-fancied Morocco, but Diaz fired home from inside the area 10 minutes after the interval at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in the capital Rabat.
Substitute El-Kaabi then got the second with a stunning overhead kick, and the victory on a wet and cold night sets the Atlas Lions up for the potentially tougher tests to come in Group A against Mali and Zambia.
The result also allowed Morocco, Africa’s best team in the FIFA rankings in 11th place, to extend their world-record winning run to 19 consecutive matches.
The game was played out before a crowd of 60,180, with Moroccan Crown Prince Moulay Hassan — who appeared on the pitch ahead of kick-off — and FIFA president Gianni Infantino among those in attendance.
Morocco’s star man and captain Achraf Hakimi also ended up watching the entire game from the bench, with coach Walid Regragui preserving the Paris Saint-Germain full-back who has not played since suffering an ankle injury with his club at the start of November.
It looked set to be a long night for Comoros when Morocco won a penalty in the 10th minute as playmaker Diaz was tripped inside the box by Iyad Mohamed.
But Rahimi’s spot-kick was kept out by the legs of Yannick Pandor as the Comoros goalkeeper dived to his right, and the visitors then succeeded in thwarting their more illustrious hosts for the remainder of the first half.
- Stunning overhead kick -
However Morocco, who also saw veteran center-back Romain Saiss come off injured early on, succeeded in breaking down their opponents after half-time.
Comoros, the tiny Indian Ocean archipelago who are 108th in the world rankings, had their resistance ended as the opening goal arrived on 55 minutes.
Manchester United’s Noussair Mazraoui, starting at right-back with Hakimi not yet quite fully fit, picked up the ball on the right side of the penalty area and squared for Real Madrid’s Spanish-born number 10 Diaz to score.
Morocco, who had seen Neil El Aynaoui almost break the deadlock just before that, then saw space open up although Comoros had a chance of their own as Rafiki Said was denied when clean through on goal.
Mazraoui forced a good save from Pandor before El-Kaabi, of Greek giants Olympiakos, lit up the occasion by meeting a cross in from the left by Anass Salah-Eddine with a magnificent overhead bicycle kick to make it 2-0.
Morocco’s next game will be on Friday against Mali, who begin their campaign by taking on Zambia in Casablanca on Monday.
Elsewhere on Monday, South Africa face Angola in Marrakech before Mohamed Salah’s Egypt — the record seven-time African champions chasing a first title since 2010 — get their bid up and running against outsiders Zimbabwe in Agadir in Group B.
This latest edition of the Cup of Nations is the first to start in one year and end in another, with the final to take place in Rabat on January 18.
