Thierry Henry -Wallpapers
Friday, 03.21.2008, 03:48pm (GMT)
Thierry Daniel Henry (pronounced [tjɛʁi ɑ̃ˈʁi], born 17 August 1977) is a French football player. Renowned for his pace, goal-scoring record and ability to create assists, he plays as a striker for the French national team and FC Barcelona.
Henry was born and brought up in the tough neighbourhood of Les Ulis, Essonne—a suburb of Paris—where he played for an array of local sides as a youngster and showed great promise as a goal-scorer. He was spotted by AS Monaco in 1990 and signed instantly, making his professional debut in 1994. Good form led to an international call-up in 1998, after which he signed for the Italian defending champions Juventus. He had a disappointing season playing on the wing, before joining Arsenal for £10.5 million in 1999.
It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class footballer. Despite initially struggling in the Premiership, he emerged as Arsenal's top goal-scorer for almost every season of his tenure there. Under long-time mentor and coach Arsène Wenger, Henry became a prolific striker and Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with 226 goals in all competitions. The Frenchman won two league titles and three FA Cups with the Gunners; he was twice nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year, was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year twice, and the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year three times. Henry spent his final two seasons with Arsenal as club captain, leading them to the UEFA Champions League final in 2006. In June 2007, after eight years with Arsenal, he transferred to FC Barcelona for a fee of £16.1 million.
Henry has enjoyed similar success with the French national squad, having won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000. In October 2007, he surpassed Michel Platini's record to become France's top goal-scorer of all time. Given his accomplishments, he is regarded today by many as one of the best footballers in the world. Off the pitch, as a result of his own experience, Henry is an active spokesperson against racism in football. His footballing style and personality have ensured that he is one of the most commercially marketable footballers in the world; he has been featured in advertisements for Nike, Reebok, Renault, Pepsi and Gillette.
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Henry is of Antillean heritage:[1] his father, Antoine, is from Guadeloupe (La Désirade island), and his mother, Maryse, is from Martinique. He was born and raised in a tough environment in the heavily urbanised Les Ulis district of Paris which, despite its hardships, provided good footballing facilities.[2] As a six-year-old, Henry showed great potential, prompting Claude Chezelle to recruit him to the local club CO Les Ulis. His father pressured him to attend training, although the youngster was not particularly drawn to football.[3] He joined US Palaiseau in 1989, but after a year his father fell out with the club, so Henry moved to Viry-Châtillon for two years.[1] US Palaiseau coach Jean-Marie Panza, Henry's future mentor, followed him there.[2]
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Henry was the first-choice free kick taker for Arsenal.
Although Henry played up front as a striker during his youth,[2] he spent his time at Monaco and Juventus playing on the wing. When Henry joined Arsenal in 1999, Wenger immediately changed this, switching Henry to his childhood position, often pairing him with Dutch veteran Dennis Bergkamp.[6] During the 2004–05 season, Wenger switched Arsenal's formation to 4-5-1.[45] This change forced Henry to adapt again to fit into the Arsenal team, and he played many games as a lone striker.[6] Still, Henry remained Arsenal's main offensive threat, on many occasions conjuring spectacular goals. Wenger once said of his fellow Frenchman: "Thierry Henry could take ball in the middle of park and score a goal that no one else in the world could score".[46]
One of the reasons cited for Henry's impressive play up front is his ability to calmly score from one-on-ones.[47] This, combined with his remarkable pace, means that he can get in behind defenders regularly enough to score.[2][48] When up front, Henry is occasionally known to move out wide to the left wing position,[49][50] something which enables him to contribute heavily in assists: between 2002–03 and 2004–05, the striker managed almost 50 assists in total and this was attributed to his unselfish play and creativity.[18] Given his versatility in being able to operate as both a winger and a striker, Henry is not a prototypical "out-and-out striker", but he has emerged consistently as one of Europe's most prolific strikers.[1] In set pieces, Henry was the first-choice penalty and free kick taker for Arsenal, having scored regularly from those positions
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