Thierry Henry

Player Information

Full name: Thierry Daniel Henry
Date of birth: August 17, 1977
Birthplace: Les Ulis, Essonne, France
Nationality: French
2nd nationality: Martiniquais
EU passport: Yes
Height: 188 cms
Weight: 83 kgs

Club: FC Barcelona
Position: Striker [C]
Squad Number: 14
Contract expires: June 2011
Previous clubs: Monaco > Juventus > (€17m) Arsenal > (€23.8m) Barcelona

International debut: October 1997, v South Africa
International Caps: 100
International Goals: 44
World Cups: France 1998 (1st), Korea/Japan 2002, Germany 2006 (2nd)

Awards

FIFA World Cup (1998)
UEFA European Football Championship (2000)
FIFA Confederations Cup (2003)

French Ligue 1 (1997)
English FA Cup (2002, 2003, 2005)
English FA Premier League (2002, 2004)

French Young Footballer of the Year (1997)
French Footballer of the Year (2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
English FA Premier League Top Scorer (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006)
English FA Premier League Footballer of the Year (2003, 2004, 2006)
FIFA Confederations Cup Top Scorer (2003)
FIFA Confederations Cup MVP (2003)

Biography

1977
Born August 17 in Les Ulis, Essonne, Paris.
1990
Joins French first division Monaco as a 13-year-old.
1994
August: Makes French first division debut for Monaco against Nice, Monaco lose 2-0. Monaco coach was Arsene Wenger.
1995
April: Scores first goals in first division, two in 6-0 victory over RC Lens.
1996
May: Voted French Young Player of the Year.
1997
January: Signs first professional contract with Monaco.
May: Monaco win French league championship. Henry scores nine goals in 36 matches.
June: Helps France reach quarter-finals of World Youth championship in Malaysia.
October: Wins first French cap in World Cup warm-up match against South Africa in Lens.
1998
June: Plays in six of seven games in World Cup finals for winners France, staying on the bench for the 3-0 final victory over Brazil but scoring three first round goals -- one against South Africa and two against Saudi Arabia.
1999
January: Joins Juventus on after Italians outbid Arsenal.
April: Scores first goals for Juventus, two in 3-1 defeat of league leaders Lazio.
1999
August: Joins Arsenal for 10.5 million pounds.
September: Fails to score in first eight appearances, eventually getting off the mark in 1-0 win over Southampton.
2000
June: Scores three goals as France win Euro 2000.
2001
May: Ends season with 22 goals.
2002
April 15: Named in the PFA Premiership team of the year.
May: Scores 31 goals for Arsenal as they clinch the Double.
June: Sent off for France against Uruguay in the World Cup finals as his country fail to progress from group stage.
2003
May: With three games remaining, Henry has scored 22 league goals as Arsenal chase second consecutive league title. He has also helped them reach second straight FA Cup final in a row.
June: Voted PFA player of the year and Football Writers' Association player of the year.
December: Runner-up in European Footballer of the Year poll, same position in FIFA world player of the year poll.
2004
May: Top scorer in Premier League with 30 goals as Arsenal win title without losing a match, a feat last achieved 115 years previously. Voted PFA player of the year. Becomes first player since award began more than 50 years ago to be named FWA player of the year in successive seasons.
December: Runner-up in FIFA world player of the year poll.
2005
May: Helps Arsenal win FA Cup although injury keeps him out of final against Manchester United.
October: Becomes top-scorer in Arsenal's history, netting twice in Champions League win over Sparta Prague to take his tally to 186, one more than set by Ian Wright in 1990s
2006
February: Scores 200th goal for Arsenal in win over Birmingham.
April: Voted Footballer of the Year for the third time in four years by the Football Writers' Association, becomes the first player in 59 years of the award to receive the accolade three times.
May: Captains Arsenal in their first Champions League final. Arsenal beaten 2-1 by Barcelona after goalkeeper Jens Lehmann sent off.
May 19: Signed a new four-year contract, pledging his future to the north London club.
July 9: Member of the French squad that lost the FIFA World Cup final against Italy 1-1 (3-5 PSO) in Berlin's Olympiastadion.
September 26: Arsenal defeated Porto 2-0 at home with Henry scoring the first on the 38th minute, it was his 50th goal in European competition.
October 12: Included among the 30 nominees for the FIFA World Player of the Year Award.
October 17: Included among the 50 nominees for the European Footballer of the Year Award.
November 6: Included in the FIFPro Team of the Year.
November 27: Thierry Henry collected 121 points to finish third in the European Footballer of the Year award.
December 15: December 15: Thierry Henry collected 12.1% of the votes to finish third in the World Soccer's Player of the Year award.
2007
March 9: Set to miss the rest of the season because of injuries. Henry, just back from a foot injury, hurt groin and stomach muscles Tuesday when the Gunners were knocked out of the European Champions League by PSV Eindhoven. "Thierry Henry will be out for a minimum of three months," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said.
June 23: Arsenal announced they have agreed to sell captain Thierry Henry to Barcelona subject for a fee reported to be in the region of €23.8m. Under the tutelage of manager Arsene Wenger, he was transformed from a winger into one of the top strikers in the world and went on to become the English club's record goalscorer with 226 goals in 364 appearances. He helped the Gunners to the Premier League title in 2002 and 2004, victory in the English FA Cup in 2002, 2003 and 2005 and captained the side to the UEFA Champions League final in 2005/06, which they lost 2-1 to Barca in Paris.
July 26: Scored in his first game with Barcelona, a 1-0 exhibition victory at Dundee United.
September 29: Scored his first hat-trick in Spanish football as FC Barcelona won 4-1 at Levante UD.
October 13: Scored a goal in France's 6-0 away victory at Faroe Islands to equal Michel Platini's France record of 41 goals.
October 17: Henry broke Platini's French national team scoring record, getting a pair of goals in a 2-0 victory over Lithuania in a European Championship qualifier. Henry scored in the 79th and 80th minutes to give him 43 goals in 96 games. Platini had 41 goals in 72 games for France from 1976-87.
2008
April 29: Member of the FC Barcelona team that lost the UEFA Champions League semifinal against Manchester United, 1-2 aggregate score.
June 3: Became the sixth France player (Thuram, Desailly, Zidane, Vieira and Deschamps) to win 100 caps after being named in the starting lineup of the friendly 1-0 defeat of Colombia in Paris.
December 6: Scored a hat-trick as FC Barcelona's 4-0 win at home to Valencia CF.

FIFA World Cup™ Germany 2006 player's profile

At the FIFA World Cup France 1998™, Aime Jacquet’s squad included several attackers who, although highly talented, lacked experience at international level. At that time, the reputations of both David Trezeguet and Thierry Henry were confined to French borders.
Today, Henry is not only regarded as one of the finest strikers on the planet, but has also become a genuine phenomenon in his seven seasons in the English Premiership with Arsenal. As clubs all over Europe can testify, his deadly finishing is matched only by his elegant style.

Made club captain last summer after the departure of fellow Frenchman Patrick Vieira, ‘Titi’ has enjoyed yet another sensational season, even smashing the London club’s all-time scoring record held previously by Ian Wright (185 goals).

The boy from the Parisian suburb of Les Ulis first made a name for himself at Monaco where, under the watchful eye of his guru Arsene Wenger, he developed an array of skills that would propel him to the summit of his sport. Picked initially by Jacquet to play a bit-part role at France 98, Henry ended the tournament as his side’s top scorer with three goals to his name.

In 1999, he escaped from an inauspicious spell at Juventus, to whom he was sold by Monaco, by moving to Highbury, a switch that saw his career take on a whole new dimension. There, his old mentor Wenger converted him from a left winger into an out-and-out centre-forward. Revelling in his new role, Henry proceeded to play a key part in France’s UEFA Euro 2000 coronation by chipping in with three goals. The football world was witnessing the birth of a legend.

Finding form
The following season, Henry really hit top gear, finishing top scorer in a team that also included the Dutch maestro Dennis Bergkamp. But for the team as a whole, the campaign was marked by the dual disappointment of a cup final loss to Liverpool and elimination in the quarter-final of the UEFA Champions League by Valencia.

One year later, the English Premiership’s top scorer arrived in Asia for the FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan 2002. But after being knocked out in the group stage without scoring a single goal, France suddenly found that the dark days were upon them.

When they were also defeated in the quarter-final of Euro 2004 by future champions Greece, les Bleus were forced to acknowledge that an era had ended. Drafted in to oversee the reconstruction, Raymond Domenech was hit by a wave of temporary retirements that deprived him of the likes of Lilian Thuram, Claude Makelele and Zinedine Zidane. But the coach responded by appointing Henry as one of his generals, a move he would not regret. When France’s place in Germany came under threat during their FIFA World Cup preliminary campaign, Henry responded with a stunning strike against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin that got his country back on track for qualification (1-0).

Stung by les Bleus’ ignominious FIFA World Cup exit four years ago, Henry is more motivated than ever by the idea of silencing the sceptics who claim he is less effective at international level as he is for his club. Defenders of the world, watch out: Henry is likely to be at his devastating best in Germany this summer.

© 2001-2006 FIFA, All Rights Reserved

UEFA Champions League 2005-06 player's profile

Thierry Henry has been a goalscorer par excellence ever since Arsenal FC paid Juventus FC €17m for his services in the summer of 1999. Since being converted from a wide player into a central striker he has matured into one of the game's most-feared hitmen.

National team
Scored the only goal of the 1996 UEFA European Under-18 Championship final against Spain and two years later, aged 20, he finished as his country's leading scorer as they won the FIFA World Cup on home soil. Further success followed at UEFA EURO 2000™, where he was again his country's top scorer with three strikes, before France, and Henry, who was sent off against Uruguay, came crashing down to earth at the 2002 World Cup. Scored six goals in seven UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifiers and then found the net twice in the win against Switzerland that took France to the quarter-finals, though his form in the early 2006 World Cup qualifiers was as frustrating as France's.

Club
A fleet-footed natural athlete, Henry first made his mark with AS Monaco FC, for whom he made his debut in 1995, helping them to the French title in 1996/97 and a UEFA Champions League semi-final in 1998.

1999: He joined Juventus in January for a significant fee but failed to settle and seven months later replaced Nicolas Anelka at Arsenal, where he assumed the centre-forward's role that transformed his career.

2001: A hugely successful season for Henry as he won the Premiership Golden Boot and Arsenal competed the English domestic double. He was then voted into the uefa.com users' Team of the Year for 2002, and ended the next campaign with an FA Cup winner's medal and both English Footballer of the Year awards. He retained the latter prize the next season and won the ESM Golden Shoe with 30 Premiership golas in inspiring Arsenal to the league title and an unbeaten campaign.

2004/05: Arsenal may have relinquished the Premiership title and again fallen short in the Champions League, but Henry's form barely dipped as he ensured a share of the ESM Golden Shoe with 25 goals and won another FA Cup.

Did you know?
Henry's uncle was French 400 metres hurdles champion.

©uefa.com 1998-2006. All rights reserved.

UEFA EURO 2004™ player's profile

Thierry Henry is a goalscorer par excellence who has not looked back since Arsenal FC paid Juventus FC €17m for his services in the summer of 1999. The extra responsibility which came with being converted from a wide player into a central striker has seen him mature into one of the game's most-feared hitmen.

National team
Scored the only goal of the 1996 UEFA European Under-18 Championship final against Spain and two years later, aged 20, he finished as his country's leading scorer as they won the FIFA World Cup on home soil. Further success followed at UEFA EURO 2000™, where he was again his country's top scorer with three strikes, before France, and Henry, who was sent off against Uruguay, came crashing down to earth at the 2002 World Cup.

UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifying
Scored six goals in seven qualifiers to finish as his country's joint-leading marksman along with David Trezeguet and Sylvain Wiltord. Henry struck four times in the two games against Malta and also registered in home victories against Cyprus and Israel.

Club
A fleet-footed natural athlete, Henry first made his mark with AS Monaco FC, for whom he made his debut in 1995, helping them to win the French title in 1996/97 and reach a UEFA Champions League semi-final in 1998.

1999: He joined Juventus in January for a significant fee but failed to settle and seven months later was heading for Highbury to replace Nicolas Anelka.

2001: The season preceding Korea/Japan was hugely successul for Henry as he won the Premiership Golden Boot as the Londoners wrested the title from Manchester United FC and defeated Chelsea FC in the FA Cup final. His performances were enough to see him voted into the uefa.com users' Team of the year for 2002. Scored a majestic UEFA Champions League at AS Roma the following term, ending it with 24 league goals, an FA Cup winner's medal and both English Footballer of the Year awards.

2003/04: English Footballer of the Year again and winner of the ESM Golden Shoe, Henry's electric performances inspired Arsenal to the league title and an unbeaten campaign. He scored 30 league goals and five more in the Champions League.

Did you know?
Henry's uncle was French 400 metres hurdles champion.

©uefa.com 1998-2004. All rights reserved.