France-Belgium: Thierry Henry, blue legend at the service of the "Devils"

France-Belgium: Thierry Henry, blue legend at the service of the" Devils "
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AFP
/ FRANCK FIFE

Can the top scorer in the history of the French team score a goal against his side? The reunion with Thierry Henry, now serving Belgium, is a heartbreaker for French fans, who fear being denied a world final because of their former star striker.

A two days close , they had to celebrate together the 20 years of the coronation of 1998. Between the former teammates Didier Deschamps and Thierry Henry, only one of them will have the chance to be able to become again world champion, on July 15th, during the final of the World-2018: the winner of the France-Belgium duel, Tuesday (20h00) in Saint-Petersburg

"Yes it's weird because he's French and he'll be on the bench of the opponent. I think it's going to be weird, "said the coach of the Blues at the microphone of TF1, Sunday.

" I'm happy to see him again – I'm sure to see him again as he is pretty taken, we do not I do not see each other all the time, it's someone I really appreciate, there's always been a lot of respect between us ", added" DD ", world champion with" Titi "when this one" was practically the age of Kylian (Mbappé) ". Another time.

Now 40 years old, Henry, also European champion in 2000 and top scorer in the history of the Blues (51 goals in 123 caps), has become to everyone's surprise the coach's assistant of the "Red Devils" Roberto Martinez since August 2016. His mission? Bring the culture of winning to the talented "golden generation", always looking for a first trophy.

Exile after the Irish hand and Knysna

"Sure I would have preferred it either with us and give us his advice to me and the other forwards, but you must not be jealous, "said French striker Olivier Giroud. "He brought a lot to the French team, we have a lot of respect for what he did."

But why is he not alongside his former captain to guide the Blues to a "second star"? "I was not offered anything, ever," said Henry, in comments reported by the daily L'Equipe. In fact, he just accepted the only "hard to refuse" proposal he received …

"We lost our sight," admitted to AFP the president of the Federation Christmas Graët. "It's life that's like that, he has always played in England, he has little presence in France and little contact with the Federation."

How to explain a link that has become so distant with his native country? Exiled in London, where he has a statue in his image in front of the Arsenal stadium, Henry spends most of his time overseas because of his consulting work for Sky Sports. But the explanation is more traumatic than geographical.

Author of the famous hand, for the pass on the goal which qualified the Blues for the World-2010, Henry did not digest the violent controversy which followed. Relegated to the bench as an anonymous vulgar in South Africa, he will see his prestigious career come to an end with the scandal of Knysa and the global training strike …

'His heart will be only Belgian' [19659008] Enough to permanently change sides? "For 90 minutes his heart will be only Belgian," dares Jean-Marie Pfaff, the former goalkeeper of Belgium at the half of the World Cup-1986, interviewed by SID, a subsidiary of AFP.

Outstanding professional , the man at the two finals of the World Cup is totally invested, like the training sessions, where he carries out a specific work with the attackers at the end of each session, or on the bench, where he does not hesitate

"He loves to talk about his experience," says Belgian center-forward Michy Batshuayi, "he's a football lover, he likes to talk about what he did, how was before, his first World Cup and all that … He gave me a lot of tips to improve myself. "

From there to say that he is at the origin of the 14 Belgian goals registered in 5 matches, the best record of the tournament? "Its impact is really important," said Roberto Martinez.

"Thierry brought us an important element, the experience, his know-how in this tournament, he knows what the players feel in this situation, he knows the pressure to win these matches," he said. added. Against his country, it will be the first time.

09/07/2018 16:48:35 –
St. Petersburg (AFP) –
© 2018 AFP