Thierry Henry restates credentials to lead France into ‘everything’ Olympic gold medal match

Thierry Henry thought he had felt it all as a footballer until this Paris Olympics came along and blew his mind.

A World Cup, a European Championship, a string of club titles, more Golden Boots than even King Midas had in his locker.

Then the Five Ringed Circus came to town, HIS town, and Henry was swamped by an emotion different to anything he had experienced before.

“Did I ever think I would be part of an Olympic team? Never,” said the father-of-four, pausing from preparing for tomorrow’s men’s final against Spain at a sold-out Parc des Princes.

“I will tell you why it’s different to me, and I explained it to the team, and some of my friends. I never ever was on the field or the bench with my family in the stand looking at me performing.

“I never had my kids at a stadium, looking at me with my team, being ‘an actor’. Because when I had my kids, I was almost at the end of my career.

“So having them around me is something I never felt before, never experienced. And I have experienced a lot.”

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Henry continued: “You talk about what I have won but for me it’s something better than what you can win. The love of your family, the love of your kids, watching you. I never had that feeling before. It never happened to me.

“Maybe that’s why you guys saw for the first time that I was so emotional. Maybe that is what was missing. I couldn’t turn and see my kids in the stand. So, turning and seeing them [here] brought me places.

“I will be honest with you, the possibility to see my kids sharing that moment with me and everybody in France, that means everything to me.”

The 46-year old had an unremarkable coaching career prior to these Games. Yet in little more than a fortnight he has restated his credentials with the job he has done steering the host nation into the Gold Medal match.

With Didier Deschamps contracted until the 2026 World Cup but coming off the back of an underwhelming Euros campaign, opportunity could come knocking for Henry should he achieve what Deschamps failed to do in Germany and beat Spain.

Henry hopes that inviting the last France team to win this tournament – the class of 1984 – to tomorrow’s showpiece will serve as a lucky omen. “It was 40 years ago but we do not forget our legends,” he said.

But he knows that in order for his team to emulate that feat they must control the emotion of the night and not be engulfed by it.

“We have had this vision of a gold medal and we find ourselves in this situation,” he added. “The dream is alive.

“I have told them to feel the emotion but not become it. It can be on the wrong side of the line if you let the emotion control you.”

France go in as favourites, on the back of Jean-Philippe Mateta’s goals and Michael Olise’s assists. A success made in Crystal Palace boosted by a water-tight defence – just one goal conceded all tournament.

Only now has their journey brought them to the capital and to Parc des Princes, a stadium rich in memories for Henry.

“I come from a neighbourhood, a suburb, in Paris,” he said. “Parc des Princes.. it’s George Weah, it’s [David] Ginola. I have memories from matches. I can see images of Ginola playing there, kissing the pitch.

“It’s the Parc des Princes. I don’t know what to say. It’s everything. This is a special stadium to me. Maybe I am getting ahead of myself. Whatever happens, being part of the history of this stadium.. it’s a legendary, it’s Zlatan, it’s Mbappe. I think you understand.”

Henry knows how it feels to win a major tournament on home soil, the 1998 World Cup ending with a 3-0 win over Brazil and hundreds of thousands of French fans flooding the Champs-Élysées.

This team has felt that same love and the Arsenal legend has vowed to deliver for them.

“I am a competitor, we will do everything to win this match,” he said. “Look at what is happening [at these Olympics]. Every night I have chills down my spine, I see competitors fighting. Even when a team losing, you feel sympathy.

“France is a beautiful country. When you put your mind to it, when you are together, nobody can stop us.”

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