FCBARCELONA.CAT

24.06.2007 09:00

Elegance in front of goal

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Thierry Henry is quite simply one of the greatest centre forwards of the last decade, and broke just about every goalscoring record going at Arsenal.

30 years old in August 2007, Henry made his pro debut for Monaco in the 1994-95 season at the tender age of 17. He soon stood out for his lightning speed, playing then on the right wing. He was snapped up by Juventus, but things didn’t work out, and he was soon on his way to Arsenal, where from a slow start he developed into a world class striker, and is generally considered the finest foreigner ever to play for the Gunners.

Born to score

It was at Arsenal that Henry’s goalscoring talents really came to the fore. In the 1999-00 season manager Arsène Wenger decided to try him out in the striker’s role, and in a variety of other attacking positions too. Fleet of foot, elegant and quick to learn, Henry immediately demonstrated that that his place in the team was up front. The Frenchman helped lay to rest the old adage of ‘Boring, boring, Arsenal’, and the North Londoners were suddenly surprising everybody with some of the most attack minded football in Europe.

Record breaker

He has beaten just about every goalscoring record going at Arsenal. His 214 goals topped Ian Wright’s record, and he also leads the club scoring in the League with 164 goals, in Europe with 41 and in the Champions League with 35. Thierry Henry was also the Premiership’s leading scorer on four occasions (2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006).

World champion

His international record is impressive too. He was in the France team that won the World Cup on home soil in 1998 and followed that up with victory at Euro 2000 in Holland and Belgium, and also collected Confederations Cup winners medals in 2003 and 2005. In ten years with ‘Les Bleus’, Henry has played 92 matches, scoring 39 goals, and is now only two shy of the all-time goalscoring record for France, currently held by current UEFA president, Michel Platini.

His club titles include two Premier Leagues (2002 and 2004) and three FA Cups (2002, 2003 and 2005), while on an individual level he won the Golden Boot for being Europe’s top scorer both in 2004 and 2005.