France’s Thierry Henry Retires, Joins New York Red Bulls
It was the day many hoped would never have to come. The legend who became the saviour of France and his clubs (Monaco, Juventus, Arsenal, Barcelona) for many times has finally decided that it is time to end his International career, following a disastrous World Cup campaign for the Les Bleus in South Africa.
Thierry Henry, the legendary French player, will however keep on going with his club career. Just recently he got transferred from Barcelona to MLS side New York Red Bulls. Henry finally decided to call it a day after playing 13 years for France.
The 32 year old player became the star he is at a young age, starting his (senior) International career in October 1997 in a 2-1 win against South Africa. Ironically, he had his first match in South Africa, where he also had his last one. He was part of the team that won the 1998 World Cup, and the side that got the glory of becoming the European Champions of 2000.
His last campaign with the Les Bleus was tarnished from the beginning because of a couple of reasons. First, it was the poor French performance in the qualification phase for the 2010 World Cup. In the crucial win-win last match for both sides, the Republic of Ireland and France, Henry mistakenly committed a foul that will haunt him for the rest of his career.
In the match, Henry helped assist a goal while controlling the ball with his hand. The foul went unnoticed by the referee and the goal was given. The infamous goal led to Ireland’s exit and became known as “Le Hand of Frog”. The French situation got worse after the then coach Raymond Domenech’s controversial selection of the squad. The s*x scandal concerning players Karim Benzema and Franck Ribery didn’t help either.
The start of the French tournament was just as disappointing. They drew against Uruguay and then got humiliated by Mexico in a 2-0 defeat. The last match was up against South Africa, and France needed to win by a margin of 5 to enter into the next stage, but instead they were thrown out of the tournament with a 2-1 defeat.
During the match against Mexico, French player Nicolas Anelka abused Domenech, and for that reason the coach sent him back home. Captain Patrice Evra, in response to that, got into a verbal fight with the coach and the team refused to practice. The incident brought further shame on a global scale to the 2006 World Cup finalists, and they went back home in an embarrassing fashion.
Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, immediately responded to the situation and called up a private meeting with Henry to assess the situation. It was confusing for many why Henry wasn’t handed the captaincy but then again, Domenech’s decisions have been under scrutiny for a very long time.
Later, the French President called up a meeting with the rest of the players in the team, before FIFA asked him to back off from government interference in football or they will have to suspend the nation from the organization. The French President then withdrew his attempts in the process, but he remains ignorant as a committee has been formed to assess them.
In the meeting, Henry told the President that he felt that he was left out of the team; he was rarely played and used only as a substitute, and the other players no longer respected or trusted him like they once used to. Other players that were majorly involved in the French drama are William Gallas, Abou Diaby and Florent Malouda.
After officially setting up a club career in America, he told the media that he is looking forward to change. Henry has had 123 appearances for Les Bleus, and apart from being on the legendary left wing, he has scored 51 goals for his nation, making him the highest goal scorer ever for France.
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