AS Monaco
(France), Juventus (Italy), Arsenal FC (England)
Honours
2004
Soulier d'or européen (Arsenal)
1998 World Cup winner (France)
2003 Confederations Cup winner (France)
2000 European Championship winner (France)
1997 French 1st Division.. Champions (Monaco)
2002 Premiership Champions (Arsenal)
2004 Premiership Champions (Arsenal)
2002 Premiership top scorer (Arsenal)
2004 Premiership top scorer (Arsenal)
2005 Premiership top scorer (Arsenal)
2002 FA Cup winner (Arsenal)
2003 FA Cup winner (Arsenal)
2004 Charity Shield winner (Arsenal)
2000 UEFA Cup Finals (Arsenal)
2001 FA Cup Finals (Arsenal)
Biography
Thierry Henry (born August 17, 1977 in Les Ulis, Paris)
is a French football player. He currently plays as a striker for
the French national football team, and for English club Arsenal,
where he is the club's all time leading goalscorer in both
league matches and all competitions.
Henry is considered one of the most dynamic attacking players in
the game today. He has surpassed Ian Wright to take over as
Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with over 200 goals for the
club. Although he plays as a striker, his versatility at all
aspects of the game makes him more influential than many
traditional strikers, and he often drops deep to receive the
ball from midfield. Combining speed, vision and creativity, he
creates nearly as many goals as he scores. Among other things,
Henry is well known for his blistering pace and lethal finishing
which has put him at the top of the FA Premier League's scorers
and he claimed the Golden Boot in 2002, 2004, and 2005. Off the
field he is now the male face of Estee Lauder.
Henry trained at the French Football Federation's academy at
Clairefontaine and played at a youth level for CO Les Ulis
(1983-1989), US Palaiseau (1989-1990), Viry-Châtillon
(1990-1992) and FC Versailles (1992-1993). He started his
professional career at AS Monaco, given his début by then Monaco
manager Arsène Wenger at the age of 17. At Monaco, Wenger put
Henry on the wing as a temporary measure because the line was
already led by Brazilian striker Sonny Anderson.
The Frenchman made his international debut in October 1997
against South Africa. He played in Les Bleus' 1998 World Cup
success, and was joint-top scorer for France with three goals;
he also was part of the Euro 2000 winning squad, scoring a
further three goals. He was also leading goalscorer and named
player of the tournament as France hosted and won the 2003
Confederations Cup.
Having impressed in the 1998 World Cup, Henry left Monaco and
moved to Italian club Juventus in January 1999 for £14 million.
There, he was made to play on the wing, and in an unfamiliar
position was unable to cope with Italian defensive discipline,
scoring just three goals while starting only 12 games for the
Bianconeri.
Unsettled in Italy, he transferred from Juventus in August 1999
to Arsenal for £10.5 million, reuniting with his former mentor,
Wenger. At Arsenal, Wenger converted Henry into a striker, where
he has flourished ever since. In the seven seasons he has been
at Arsenal, Henry has been the club's top goalscorer for every
single one. He was made Arsenal captain in the summer of 2005,
succeeding the recently departed Patrick Vieira. Regarded by
many as the best striker in Arsenal's history, on October 18,
2005 Henry became the club's top goalscorer of all time; two
goals against Sparta Prague meant he broke Ian Wright's record
of 185 first-class goals. On February 1, 2006, he scored a goal
against West Ham, bringing his league goal tally up to 151 and
thus breaking Cliff Bastin's Arsenal league goals record. The
2005-2006 season also saw him score his 150th goal at Highbury,
a feat unparallelled in the history of the club, and a unique
achievement in the Premier League. He also contributes a large
number of assists - most notably 20 in the 2002/3 season - an
all-time Premiership record.
Henry has received many plaudits and awards. He was runner-up
for the 2003 and 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year award while
helping Arsenal to an unbeaten record (26 wins, 12 draws) in the
Premiership. He has also won both the Football Writers'
Association Footballer of the Year, the PFA Players' Player of
the Year twice, and the French Player Of The Year on four
occasions - an all-time record. In 2004/5, despite Arsenal being
the runners-up in the Premiership, Henry emerged with the
European Golden Boot - the award for the top goalscorer in
Europe - for the second consecutive year (albeit sharing with
Villarreal's Diego Forlan in 2005).
Henry has appeared in television advertisements for Nike, Pro
Evolution Soccer, and Renault (once with his English model
girlfriend Nicole Merry, whom he married in July 2003) and will
soon front adverts for Pepsi. On May 27, 2005, Henry celebrated
the birth of his first child, Tea Henry. Henry and his family
live in Hampstead, north London.
In January 2006, the Spanish media reported that Henry would
sign for FC Barcelona at the start of the 2006-07 season.
However, Henry has repeatedly stated his desire to stay with
Arsenal., although as of February 15, 2005 he has not signed the
new contract Arsenal are offering.
