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When France will line up for its World Cup semi-final, the great Thierry Henry will watch them from the Belgian bench – and Les Bleus can not help but talk about it [19659002HenrywhowaspartoftheFranceteamthatwonthe1998WorldCupathomehasbeendeputydirectorofBelgiumbossRobertoMartinezsince2016andhashelpedguidetheRedDevilsforthepastfouryearsaWorldCupforthesecondtime
The irony The player who scored 51 goals in 123 international appearances and helped France to become world champion and the champions of Europe now plot to prevent them from reaching the final in Russia is not lost on the current French team. Said striker Olivier Giroud. "He is a living legend of French football."
"He gave so much to the France team and we have a lot of respect for what he did."
"But of course, I would be proud of" Titi "that he chose the wrong camp," added Giroud, using Henry's French nickname.
– "Lost sight of him" –
Having spent most of his career at the Premier League club Arsenal and root In England, Henry, 40, has played little part in French football, although that he is one of the most popular players that France has ever produced.
The president of the French Football Federation, Noel Le Graet, said: to see him and he has little contact with the federation. "
" Life can be like that sometimes. He was in England a long time ago and personally I have very little contact with him, "said Le Graet.
He said that Henry had made Belgium" a team that loves attack "
" Strikers Him, they respect him. "
Henry had little experience as a coach and the president said that he had" probably chosen the right solution "by accepting the post of badistant
He compared Henry's first steps to those followed by Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid before taking the lead and winning three consecutive titles in the Champions League.
"It's better to start as a" 39; badistant in a national team, even though he hoped "The Graet said:" There is no doubt that he has a coaching career ahead of him. "
Henry, now wearing a thick beard, is happy to stay in the background as Martinez, a former director of English clubs Wigan and Everton, speaks to the media.
Belgium was put in place in 2016 just after the appointment of Martinez and would immediately get to work with the attackers Romelu Lukaku and Michy Batshuayi
Although very different from the elegant Frenchman, the mighty Lukaku showed a touch of Henry in his dummy This allowed Nacer Chadli to score the goal of Belgium's victory in the 3-2 victory over Japan in the round of 16.
Jean-Marie Pfaff, Belgium's goalkeeper Semifinals of the Cup in 1986, told the German news agency AFP SID, that Henry would be "the main opponent of France" in the semifinal.
"He plays a role extremely important for Martinez, "said Pfaff." Martinez him regularly asks for advice and he listens, I think Thierry Henry can be credited with some tactical ploys. "
Giroud, who like Henry was an Arsenal striker until 39, he joins Chelsea last year, wishes Henry "Of course, I would have liked him to be with us and he was giving advice to me and to the other strikers, but we can not be envious it's not something that shocks me because it's a normal movement.
French defender Lucas Hernandez said he was convinced that Henry would be happy if France beat his employers on Wednesday.
"He will be happy if we win because, above all, he is a Frenchman," said the 22-year-old left-back.
Thierry Henry is happy to stay in the background in the Belgian setting
Thierry Henry enjoys a joke during a Belgian training session before the half final final against his native France
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