Henry retires from international football

ShaneU

Delighted

http://www.skysports.com/football/world-cup-2010/story/0,27032,12025_6261872,00.html

Sky Sports wrote:

Thierry Henry has announced his retirement from international football with France.

Henry, who has just joined MLS side New York Red Bulls, has decided to call time on his international career after 13 years playing for France.

The 32-year-old began his international career in 1997, making his debut against South Africa and he was a member of the 1998 World Cup winning team and the successful Euro 2000 side.

Henry's time with Les Bleus was marred by his involvement in the controversial World Cup play-off win over Republic of Ireland last November.

The former Arsenal man handled the ball in the build-up to William Gallas' crucial goal and he came in for a barrage of criticism following the incident.

Henry then played a bit-part role for France in this summer's World Cup finals in South Africa, failing to start any of his country's three games.

In the wake of France's disastrous campaign Henry has now decided to quit the international scene and focus on his new club career in America.

Henry won 123 caps for France and scored 51 goals for his country to make him France's top goalscorer of all time.

In a short statement, Henry said: "This is the end for me on the national team."

daveyboy_1ie

Wonder will he get a Golden hand(ball)shake?

tdv123

Not really much of a suprise. He's nearly 33, he'll be close to 35 the next time a major tournament comes around & he dosent get much playing time for France at the moment anyway so retiring is good idea.

Johnny86

you've got to hand it to him, he was a great player

A Primal Nut

Johnny86 wrote: »

you've got to hand it to him, he was a great player

If anyone will be handling anything, it will be him.

Fizman

Absolute class act of a player.

It's an awful shame that there seems to be a lot of people who are ignorant enough to declare that they are 'delighted' that one of the best players of the past two decades of world football has just finished his international career. I find it all very small-minded tbh.

DeVore

Cue schadenfreude.....

DeV.

That_Guy

The bloody cheat.

Replay the World Cup so we can be team 33.
























:pac:

Jordan Berbatov

Saves him the embarassment of being dropped by blanc anyway

eagle eye

Fizman wrote: »

Absolute class act of a player.

It's an awful shame that there seems to be a lot of people who are ignorant enough to declare that they are 'delighted' that one of the best players of the past two decades of world football has just finished his international career. I find it all very small-minded tbh.

I find your post very small-minded. You simply don't understand how important international football is to a lot of people.

How can you not understand the annoyance that some people feel coming from a nation that has only ever qualified for the World Cup 3 times in its history?

They have every right to be disgusted by Thierry Henry after what he did.

And I haven't seen anybody in here say anything like what you are suggesting has been said to this point.

Johnny86

Fizman wrote: »

Absolute class act of a player.

It's an awful shame that there seems to be a lot of people who are ignorant enough to declare that they are 'delighted' that one of the best players of the past two decades of world football has just finished his international career. I find it all very small-minded tbh.

i presume you ment to put that quote on the emile heskey retirement thread!!!

Spud83

How come Heskey didn't get his own thread. :pac:

Jordan Berbatov

Spud83 wrote: »

How come Heskey didn't get his own thread. :pac:

because . .. he's ****e

Mr.Nice Guy

Spud83 wrote: »

How come Heskey didn't get his own thread. :pac:

Because he only infuriated his own nation. :pac:

Fizman

eagle eye wrote: »

I find your post very small-minded. You simply don't understand how important international football is to a lot of people.

How can you not understand the annoyance that some people feel coming from a nation that has only ever qualified for the World Cup 3 times in its history?

They have every right to be disgusted by Thierry Henry after what he did.

And I haven't seen anybody in here say anything like what you are suggesting has been said to this point.

I take it you missed the first word of the original post?


This has been done to death tbh and I've to leg it out of the office now. I'll find a previous post of mine later on that sums up my thoughts on the matter.

In a nut shell, I think the officials are to blame, and not Henry.

Helix

Spud83 wrote: »

How come Heskey didn't get his own thread. :pac:

he almost did, but it fell over just as it was about to be posted

eagle eye

Fizman wrote: »

I take it you missed the first word of the original post?


This has been done to death tbh and I've to leg it out of the office now. I'll find a previous post of mine later on that sums up my thoughts on the matter.

In a nut shell, I think the officials are to blame, and not Henry.

I have no interest in who you are blaming. I really don't care about it that much tbh. Its just that there was one comment in this thread and your post made it sound like there were many.

I ask you not to bother bringing up an old post.

Fact is the officials were wrong but so was Henry for cheating in the first place.

The fact that he cheated and it ended Ireland's chances of progressing is clearly going to annoy people.

And just like other great players he tarnished his reputation by doing this. He was a great player, one of the best in the Premier League ever but he will always be associated with cheating now in the minds of the Irish public and many football fans worldwide who don't like this sort of thing. He was even dressed down by former French teammates. What do you say to them?

Panthro

i missed him when he left the premiership, and im a chelsea fan.
i always considered him to be a class player.
he made my blood boil on the night of the great hand of henry, but after that, good luck to him.

Jigga

He is still insisting the handball wasn't intentional. Oozing class as always Thierry. Good riddance to him.

Pinturicchio

I originally read the title of this thread as "Heary retires from international football".

DB10

Shame, rather watch him than ****e like Robbie Keane idolised on here.

Kiwi_knock

He had no future with the French team, Blanc is not interested in picking any of the players that were at the centre of the disorder in the squad.

Kidchameleon

Fizman wrote: »

Absolute class act of a player.

It's an awful shame that there seems to be a lot of people who are ignorant enough to declare that they are 'delighted' that one of the best players of the past two decades of world football has just finished his international career. I find it all very small-minded tbh.

Its his own fault. I loved him, had nothing but respect for him. Simply put, he is a cheat and the game is better off without corrupt people.

Fizman

eagle eye
I have no interest in who you are blaming. I really don't care about it that much tbh. Its just that there was one comment in this thread and your post made it sound like there were many.

One comment, the opening comment of the thread! In fact it was the only word the OP used so surely you must know that that is going to incite a response from those who don't share the same 'delight' as others.

eagle eye
I ask you not to bother bringing up an old post.

I shall refrain from doing so.

eagle eye
Fact is the officials were wrong but so was Henry for cheating in the first place.

The fact that he cheated and it ended Ireland's chances of progressing is clearly going to annoy people.

And just like other great players he tarnished his reputation by doing this. He was a great player, one of the best in the Premier League ever but he will always be associated with cheating now in the minds of the Irish public and many football fans worldwide who don't like this sort of thing.

Can I ask you then, what players in the modern game do you admire? Am I right in saying that because he cheated, you have lost all respect for him? Regardless of the officials missing it?

Going by that logic, you will be left with very very few players.

This baffles me. If the officials called it right that night, Henry would not have batted an eyelid at the decision, and would now be subsequently retiring from international football regarded as one of the best to play the game?

eagle eye
He was even dressed down by former French teammates. What do you say to them?

Build a bridge and get over it. The majority of former French players who were interviewed after that match would have been overjoyed on the inside seeing as they have now just qualified for a WC. Of course they are not going to high-five Henry in front of the watching world.

thorbarry

Amazing player in his prime and one of my all time favorites. He scored some of the best goals i've ever seen, a few against Man U too

He had great pace and great pace, left most defenders for dead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbASd5CU3H8&feature=related

Shanotheslayer

One of my favourite all time players, an absolute class act when he was at arsenal. Will always remember that cracker he scored againts United.

A great talent.

heyjude

He jumped before he was pushed.

As said elsewhere, Henry will be 35 by the time of the next Euro Championship, so Blanc was never likely to include him as part of his squad, even leaving aside whatever role he may have had in the French world cup debacle.

So rather than wait and possibly face the ignominy of being left out of the French squad for their next match and the following Euro 2012 qualifiers, Henry has preempted that and announced his retirement, that way he can still delude himself into thinking that Blanc would still have picked him and nobody can prove otherwise.

I wonder how long it will take the Americans to realise that Henry isn't a shadow of the player he used to be. I also wonder, given the large Irish population in New York, whether Henry will get stick from some of the fans of his new club. Time will tell.

Kidchameleon

heyjude wrote: »

I also wonder, given the large Irish population in New York, whether Henry will get stick from some of the fans of his new club. Time will tell.

Fingers crossed

Barr

He was a great player in his time.Afer his world cup he picked the right time to hang up his boots.

eagle eye

Fizman wrote: »

One comment, the opening comment of the thread! In fact it was the only word the OP used so surely you must know that that is going to incite a response from those who don't share the same 'delight' as others.

Your comment, the opening line of your comment was

Fizman wrote: »

Absolute class act of a player.

Are you saying that people are not going to react to that? Are you saying that an Irish person proud of this nation's soccer team should applaud Henry or say good things about him? Do you think thats how people react to cheating?
Did you watch the Uruguay vs Germany game? Did you hear all the boos everytime Suarez got the ball?
So here we have South Africans and fans from other nations showing their contempt for Suarez for his handball. Its not just in Ireland this happens.

Fizman wrote: »

Can I ask you then, what players in the modern game do you admire? Am I right in saying that because he cheated, you have lost all respect for him? Regardless of the officials missing it?

I have no intention of getting into discussing my favourite players here as I'm quite certain you will go trawling the net to try and dig up some dirt on them. And its really irrelevant to what we are discussing here.
This is about a game of football which brought a nation to a standstill as they hoped and prayed that their team would reach the World Cup finals.
Thierry Henry as I said earlier was one of the greatest players to ever play in the Premier League but my memory of him will always be tarnished by what he did in that game. If you think there is something wrong with that, well then you really don't understand the passion of a Republic of Ireland football fan.

Fizman wrote: »

Going by that logic, you will be left with very very few players.

Again what? Are you telling me that every player tries to cheat?
Sadly it has become more prevalent in the modern game but the fans are starting to react to it. I think in the next two years you will see rules brought in to deal with cheating/diving.

Fizman wrote: »

This baffles me. If the officials called it right that night, Henry would not have batted an eyelid at the decision, and would now be subsequently retiring from international football regarded as one of the best to play the game?

If and ands. Thats not the case, the officials were wrong but Thierry Henry was wrong to.

Fizman wrote: »

Build a bridge and get over it. The majority of former French players who were interviewed after that match would have been overjoyed on the inside seeing as they have now just qualified for a WC. Of course they are not going to high-five Henry in front of the watching world.

And you know this how?
Judging by your earlier comments you are out of touch with reality and don't understand how people as a nation and maybe players who proudly represented their nation react to offenses that are considered wrong.

gandalf

Not a surprise that Thierry has retired given his age and the chaos that enveloped the French team in South Africa.

As an Arsenal fan married to a French woman he had a special place in my heart. Its a real shame that he sullied his reputation during that match back in November and unfortunately for him he is going to be remembered by many for the moment of infamy rather than the wonderful skills he showed us for most of his career.

Zebra3

I assume that everyone who hates Henry for his handball equally hates Damien Duff for his dive that won Ireland a peno at the 2002 WC.

Or are you all hypocrites? :rolleyes:

eagle eye

Zebra3 wrote: »

I assume that everyone who hates Henry for his handball equally hates Damien Duff for his dive that won Ireland a peno at the 2002 WC.

Or are you all hypocrites? :rolleyes:

Tell us what your take is on the fans who booed Suarez in the third place playoff game?

Fizman

eagle eye wrote: »

.......

What a very very high horse you have there Sir. We have a difference of opinion on arguably the most talked about topic in world football in the past decade where there are many conflicting views, yet you feel that:
1.

you really don't understand the passion of a Republic of Ireland football fan

and
2.

you are out of touch with reality

You're perfectly entitled to your opinion. There would seem to be many on here with similar problems so it seems.

eagle eye wrote: »

I have no intention of getting into discussing my favourite players here as I'm quite certain you will go trawling the net to try and dig up some dirt on them. And its really irrelevant to what we are discussing here.
This is about a game of football which brought a nation to a standstill as they hoped and prayed that their team would reach the World Cup finals.
Thierry Henry as I said earlier was one of the greatest players to ever play in the Premier League but my memory of him will always be tarnished by what he did in that game. If you think there is something wrong with that, well then you really don't understand the passion of a Republic of Ireland football fan.

I have better things to do than trawl the net to dig up dirt on your heroes. I'm a Liverpool and Ireland fan. The amount of times Gerrard, Torres, Keane or Duff have handled a ball/dived/etc to get an advantage during a game of football is countless. Sometimes they have been caught and punished, other times they have gotten away with it. It's part and parcel of the game unfortunately and needs to be stamped out. Until then it will continue on a very regular basis. Players will simply continue as long as they are getting away with it and as long as their team gets the upper hand.

Going by what you say regarding Henry's actions, do you hold Zidane in as much contempt seeing as his final act for France was to assault a player on a pitch? That could be considered 'cheating'. Do you look at Maradona with disgust because of his famous handball? I could go on.

If and ands. Thats not the case, the officials were wrong but Thierry Henry was wrong to.

Oh but it is the case.
That decision being made correctly = me and you not having this conversation = Ireland having a shot at winning in ET/penalties.

Yet the decision isn't made = Henry being castigated by many.
This to me makes no sense.

At the end of the day, Henry was sent out to do his job. So were the officials.

Henry's job was to assist in getting his country to the WC. He did his job.
The officials job was to make sure the game was referried in accordance to the laws. They did not do their job.

you really don't understand the passion of a Republic of Ireland football fan.

Going by this I take it you claim to be a passionate Irish fan. If you were to be put in an Irish jersey and sent out to play a WC playoff, and you knew that if you handled the ball it would lead to a goal that would get Ireland to the WC, would you handle that ball? Can you honestly say you wouldn't have done what Henry did?

Would you not have done the very same as Suarez??

If your answer to this is no then I doubt you have ever played sports at a competitive level and I would never wish to be on the same team as you.

Carcharodon

eagle eye wrote: »

I find your post very small-minded. You simply don't understand how important international football is to a lot of people.

How can you not understand the annoyance that some people feel coming from a nation that has only ever qualified for the World Cup 3 times in its history?

They have every right to be disgusted by Thierry Henry after what he did.

And I haven't seen anybody in here say anything like what you are suggesting has been said to this point.

Dry Your Eyes Mate, You Know Its OVER !

On actual topic, great international career in all fairness, European Championship, World Cup, can't really ask for much more.

Xavi6

Kidchameleon wrote: »

Fingers crossed

Hopefully they will embrace such a legend of a player rather than focusing on one incident out of a 15 year career like the quoted poster.

eagle eye wrote: »

Tell us what your take is on the fans who booed Suarez in the third place playoff game?

Unless the stadium was full of Ghanaians then there was no reason to boo.

robbeardsley

Jordan Berbatov wrote: »

Saves him the embarassment of being dropped by blanc anyway

Anelka is in the same boat. Can't see him returning to the international team. Blanc wont have him and he's probably done with it himself anyway. There'll be serious changes when Blanc starts, and Gourcuff will be at the centre of it

prinz

gandalf wrote: »

Its a real shame that he sullied his reputation during that match back in November and unfortunately for him he is going to be remembered by many for the moment of infamy rather than the wonderful skills he showed us for most of his career.

This. Great player, fantastic career overall, but he let himself down big time IMO.

SDTimeout

On a seperate matter i think the next Euros will have a France Germany final. Blanc is going to blood youth into that french team they will storm their qualifying group.

pickarooney

SDTimeout wrote: »

On a seperate matter i think the next Euros will have a France Germany final. Blanc is going to blood youth into that french team they will storm their qualifying group.

What players do you reckon Blanc will bring in?

SDTimeout

pickarooney wrote: »

What players do you reckon Blanc will bring in?

I think he will switch to a 4-3-3. The front three consisting of Gignac, Gomis and Benzema as the main striker.

Center of the park Toulalan as the holding ( optional to change with Diarra )
I rate Gourcuff and Nasri quite highly and would love to see the two of them at Arsenal. It depends on if Blanc will stay true to his word on not bringing back the trouble makers. Ribery brought some bad press to the french camp and yesterday was charged with sex with a minor i do believe ?. A midfield traingle three pressing forward of Ribery, Nasri, Gourcuff , Toulalan to choose from is a great choice. Squad players like the other Diarra, Abou Diaby, Ben Arfa ?. However this means finding a new captain as Evra will be gone. Clichy can fill in there no problem and the armband would transfer over to Lloris.

Gourcuff is too good a player to have out of the team, he was hated by those troublesome players going into the tournament. Hopefully he can have a good qualifying.

Defence i would like to see Sakho brought in. Evra out Clichy and Sagna retain their places. Perhaps Blanc would look past Gallas now if he gets a new club ( plus he was a disruptive player ) and look towards Mexes ?

Ideally my french line up would be

Lloris, Sagna, Mexes, Sakho, Clichy, Toulalan, Gourcuff, Ribery (Nasri ) , Gomis, Benzema, Gignac.

The formation could also change from a 4-3-3 to Toulalan as the holding and two wingers ( suit ribery better ) a lone striker and two men behind him, or two strikers and a lone man behind him ( RVP dropping deep like at world cup style player, Gignac suits this mould.

pickarooney

That's some set of donkeys up front!

Ribéry needs to be told to fuсk off if Blanc is to start with a clean slate, IMO. It would be good to see Mexès finally get some playing time.

ROCKMAN

Great player ,Fantastic career , Scored some of the best goals I've ever seen , The fact that a minute of madness is clouding the issue is sad .

Kidchameleon

Barr wrote: »

He was a great player in his time.Afer his world cup he picked the right time to hang up his boots.

The right time to hang up his boots would have been just before the Paris game!

SDTimeout

pickarooney wrote: »

That's some set of donkeys up front!

Ribéry needs to be told to fuсk off if Blanc is to start with a clean slate, IMO. It would be good to see Mexès finally get some playing time.

Far from donkeys! I would love to see Mexes get some good playing time he was constantly overlooked under the reign of Astronomy.

The great thing about that midfield is Ribéry could be told to get lost and it would still be a world class midfield.

I really rate both Gomis and APG, Benzema would be my key worry due to the fact he's not playing regularly. APG is the French Gonzalo Higuain and that's a great striker to have.

SDTimeout

If i may throw one last thing in here i think Cédric Carrasso is the best keeper in France and there is a clouded perception of Lloris being everyone's underrated goal keeping talent.

Would love to see him get a few caps this qualifying and it's quite possible he will get the nod due to him being Blanc's first choice all last season.

pickarooney

It's much of a muchness but Mandanda is my keeper of choice. They really are spoiled with such an array of young talent between the sticks. I'm not sure on what basis you're rating Gomis - he was pretty poor all season and frankly dreadful in his few international matches. Gignac scored about 8 times all season in the French league and was absolutely at sea in the WC qualifiers so a comparison with Higuain is baffling. Anyway, back to Henry

SDTimeout

pickarooney wrote: »

It's much of a muchness but Mandanda is my keeper of choice. They really are spoiled with such an array of young talent between the sticks. I'm not sure on what basis you're rating Gomis - he was pretty poor all season and frankly dreadful in his few international matches. Gignac scored about 8 times all season in the French league and was absolutely at sea in the WC qualifiers so a comparison with Higuain is baffling. Anyway, back to Henry

Maybe i'm trying to find some good in a striker who resembles Adebayor.

Maybe it's the stubble that has me falling for APG.

I like this discussion and i like you! French Euro's Thread sharpish!

henry to score tonight against spurs. He will find the legs

pickarooney

Loïc Rémy could make the breakthrough this year. There are a few places up for grabs!

I wonder will Blanc actually recognise the existence of Serie A.

Ush1

SDTimeout wrote: »

Maybe i'm trying to find some good in a striker who resembles Adebayor.

Maybe it's the stubble that has me falling for APG.

I like this discussion and i like you! French Euro's Thread sharpish!

henry to score tonight against spurs. He will find the legs

Slowmis(sic) had a great debut in that friendly for France. 2 great finishes. But in the Euros he looked lost as he has for most of his time at Lyon. He gets the odd goal but he's too frustrating to watch alongside Lisandro, who is just awesome.

noodler

Wish he had made the decision two years ago and save his country (and ours to an extent) the embarrassment.