Biography of Thierry Henry

About Thierry Henry

Thierry Henry was born in Les Ulis, a suburb of Paris, on August 17th 1977. He started his professional career in 1994 with the French team AS Monaco. One of the best strikers in the world, the French man also played for Juventus and Arsenal. On June 2007, Thierry Henry signed a four-year contract with Barcelona. Winner of the 98 World Cup and the 2000 Euro with France, he is the main striker of his national team and the top goal-scorer of all time, surpassing Michel Platini’s record.

Background

Thierry Daniel Henry was born in Les Ulis, France, and comes from a family of Antillean descent. His father, Antoine, is from Guadeloupe and his mother, Maryse, is from Martinique. Thierry started playing football when he was 6 years old in the local club CO Les Ulis. In 1989, he joined US Palaiseau, and moved to Viry-Châtillon a year later.

In 1990, Henry was spotted by AS Monaco’s scout Arnold Catalano after he scored all 6 goals of his team in a single match. He joined the club’s training center in 1992 after finishing his course at the Clairfontaine Academy and met Arsene Wenger, who will eventually become his mentor. He played his first professional game on August 31st, 1994 against Nice, he was 17 years old. In 1999, he signed with Italian champion Juventus and played the whole season on the wing, an unusual position for himself.

At the end of the 1998-1999 season, he signed a contract with Arsenal. In 8 years with the English club, Henry won 2 league titles, 3 FA Cups and became Arsenals top-goal scorer of all time, in all competitions, with a total of 226 goals.

On June 25th 2007, he moved to Spain and signed a four years contract with Barcelona for a €24M fee.

Club Football

AS Monaco (1992-1999) 1992-1995 : Henry joined AS Monaco without even attending a trial. Upon Catalano’s request, he was sent to the Clairfontaine Academy during a year, in order to complete his course. He then joined AS Monaco’s training center, and played his first professional game as a left-winger on August 31st, 1994 against Nice. In his first season, he scored 3 goals in 16 appearances.

1995-1997 : Henry’s manager, Arsene Wenger, was convinced that the best playing position for him was forward as a striker. In 1996, despite the fact that it was his first season as a striker, Henry was named the French Young Footballer of the Year. In 1996, he helped Monaco wining the Ligue 1 title by scoring 9 goals in 36 appearances. The same year, his mentor left the team and became the new coach of Arsenal.

1997-1999 : For his first European season, “Titi” led his team to the 1997 UEFA Cup semi-finals by scoring 7 goals in the competition, establishing a new French record. Monaco finished first in the Group stage and took out Bayern Leverkusen and Manchester United, before losing against Juventus. The same year, Henry won the Champions Trophy. In January 1999, he was purchased by Italian Champion Juventus for £10.7 million.

Juventus (1999) 1999 : Asked to play on the left wing, spending most of his time on the bench, Henry was disappointed and spent 6 months only in Serie A. Scoring 3 goals in 16 appearances, he left the club in August 1999 and joined Arsenal, reunited with his old friend and former coach Arsene Wenger.

Arsenal (1999-2007) 1999-2001: As soon as he arrived in his new club, Henry was trained by Wenger to become the best striker in the Premier League. Bought to replace French forward Nicolas Anelka, his debut in the English Championship were extremely hard, failing to score in his first 8 games. He even said “I had to be re-taught everything about the art of striking“. People started to be concerned about his ability to adapt. However, at the end of his first season, he had an impressive record of 26 goals in 31 games! Arsenal finished 2nd behind Manchester United, and he led his team to the UEFA Cup Final by scoring 8 goals in 12 appearances, but lost against Galatasaray S.K. During the 2000-2001 season, he started in 35 games and scored 17 goals and became the club’s top-scorer, finishing runner-up of the Premier League and the FA Cup with his team. However, he was frustrated, saying that he had yet to help his club win honours.

2001-2002 : The season of all successes for Henry. Finishing 7 points above Liverpool, he won his first Premier League title and his first FA Cup by defeating Chelsea 2-0. He scored 32 goals in all competitions and was the league's top goal-scorer, with 24 goals in 33 games!

2002-2003 : With 42 goals in all competitions and 23 assists, it was an other successful year for the French man, who led Arsenal to win the FA Cup again! He was also named PFA Players' Player of the Year, Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year and was runner-up for the 2003 FIFA World Player of the Year. He lost the league scoring title by one goal only against Ruud Van Nistelrooy!

2003-2004 : That year, Arsenal became the first English team in more than a hundred years to be undefeated throughout the entire domestic league, thanks to Henry and an other French man, his team-mate Robert Pires, scoring a combined 57 goals in all competitions. Once again, Henry was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year and Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year, and finished runner-up for the title of 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year. He also won the European Golden Boot : he was the highest goal scorer in all the top European divisions by scoring 39 goals in all competitions.

2004-2005 : The Gunners were runner-up in the Premier League, behind Chelsea, and won the FA Cup. It was a really important year for Henry, who became the captain of his team after the unexpected departure of his compatriot, team mate and friend Patrick Viera. Henry took his new role very seriously, even if it’s not common for a striker to be captain. With 25 goals in 32 games, he won once again the European Golden Boot, co-recipient with Diego Forlan.

2005-2006 : On 17 October, 2005, in the Champions League,Henry scored two goals against Sparta Prague and became the club's top scorer of all time, surpassing Ian Wright's record of 185 goals. But it was not enough for Titi. On February 1, 2006, he scored his 151st goal in the Premiere League, breaking Cliff Bastin's league goal record. An other time league's top scorer and Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year, Henry reached the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final with his team, but the Gunners lost 2-1 to Barcelona. Despite two propositions of £50 million from Spanish clubs, he signed a new four-year contract and said he would stay at Arsenal for life. If the transfer had happened, it would have been the new world record, surpassing the £47 million paid for Zidane by Real Madrid.

2006-2007 : Henry missed numerous games at the beginning of the season, due to hamstring, foot and back problems. On February 2007, scans revealed he would need at least three months to recover, and he missed the rest of the season. On June 25, 2007, Henry signed a four-year contract with Barcelona for a £16.1 million fee : "I always said that if I ever left Arsenal it would be to play for Barcelona." As reasons for leaving, he cited the departure of Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein as well as the uncertain future of Wenger. After 8 wonderful years with the Gunners, Henry left the club as a legend : he is the club's all time league goal-scorer with 174 goals, and also the all time goal-scorer in European competition with 42 goals. He scored a total of 226 goals in 369 appearances!

Barcelona (2007-present) Henry played his first game in Spain on August 26, 2007 against Racing Santander. In a Champions League game, he scored his first goal with his new team against Lyon, and had his first hat-trick in La Ligua on September 29, 2007 against Levante. He started in 16 games and scored 6 goals in La Ligua, and also appeared 4 times and scored 2 goals in the 2007-2008 UEFA Champions League.

International Football

France Henry started his international career on June 1997 with the Under-20 French National Team. He played in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship with William Gallas and David Trezeguet, who will eventually become his teammates in the National French Team. Not even 4 months after his international debut, he was called up to the senior team by French head coach Aime Jacquet and earned his first cap against South Africa on October 11, 1997. Titi made such a good impression on Jacquet that he decided to take him to the 1998 World Cup. Despite the fact that Henry was yet to become known as an international player, he finished the competition as France's top scorer with 3 goals, and for the first time, France won the World Cup.

In the 2000 Euro, Henry finished again as the country's top scorer with 3 goals, equalizing against Portugal in the semi-finals. France won the competition by defeating Italy in the Final and became the first team to hold both the World Cup and the European Championship.

The 2002 FIFA World Cup was a disaster for Henry and his teammates. France lost the first match 1-0 to Senegal, and Henry took a red card during the second game against Uruguay, and the game ended on a 0-0 draw. Due to his suspension, Henry missed the final match of the Group stage. France lost 2-0 to Denmark and was eliminated from the competition without scoring any goals!

At the 2003 Confederation Cup, even if France was playing without stars Zidane and Viera, Henry led his team to win the tournament. He scored the golden goal in the final against Cameroon and was named Man of the Match in three of France's five games by FIFA Technical Study Group. As the outstanding player and the top goal-scorer of the competition with 4 goals, he was rewarded with the Adidas Golden Ball and the Adidas Golden Shoe.

In Euro 2004, France lost against Greece in the quarter-finals. Henry started in all the matches of his team and scored 2 goals. In the 2006 World Cup, Henry was one of the best player of the competition. He scored the wining goal against Brazil in the quarter-finals, thanks a beautiful assist from Zidane. Even if France lost against Italy in the final, Henry was one of the ten nominees for the Golden Ball, but the award went to his teammate Zinedine Zidane.

On October 13th, 2007, Henry joined Michel Platini as the country's top goal scorer of all time by scoring his 41st goal against Faeroe Islands. Four days later, he scored 2 goals against Lithuania and set a new record! Since he started to play with his national team, Henry has earned 98 caps and scored 44 goals!

International Goals

Awards and Honors

AS Monaco

• Ligue 1 : 1996-1997
• French Super Cup : 1997

Arsenal

• FA Premier League : 2001-2002, 2003-2004
• FA Cup : 2002, 2003, 2005
• FA Community Shield : 2002, 2004
• UEFA Champions League : Runner-up : 2006
• UEFA Cup : Runner-up : 2000

France

• FIFA World Cup : 1998, Runner Up : 2006
• European Championship : 2000
• Confederation Cup : 2003

Personal Awards

Career Statistics

M = Matches, G = Goals, A = Assists

Personal Info

On July 5th 2003, Henry married English model Claire Merry at Highclere Castle. They had their first child, Tea, on May 27th 2005. However, not a long time after his transfer to Barcelona they went through a divorce. Henry is also a big fan of the NBA and a close friend of Tony Parker. He went to the 2001 NBA Finals to help with French television coverage, and also went to the 2007 NBA Finals to watch his friend Parker and the San Antonio Spurs.

A member of the UNICEF FIFA squad, he appeared in several TV spots with other professional players in which they promote football as a game that must be played on behalf of children. He is also a spokesperson against racism in football : in 2004, Spanish head coach Luis Aragones referred to him as a "black shit". Soon after the incident, Henry and Nike started the Stand up Speak up campaign against racism in football. In 2007, Time Magazine named him one of the "Heroes and Pioneers" on "the Time 100" list.

Wife / Girlfriend

Claire Merry, also known as Nicole Merry, is an English model. She was married to Henry for 4 years and got divorced on September 2007. They have one child named Tea.

Sponsors

• Gillette
• Nike
• Pepsi
• Reebok
• Renault

Important Links

No Official site

References

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thierry_Henry
• http://www.thierry-henry.net/francais.htm
• http://thierryhenry.soccerstar.org/thierry-henry-biography.aspx