Thierry Henry

Poor Thierry Henry. Say, Belgium beats France in tonight’s semi-final at the FIFA World Cup. Does he act like those insipid soccer players who don’t celebrate after scoring against a former team, and pull a straight face.

On the other side of the coin, what if France wins. Sure, he wouldn’t be in celebratory mood after the game, but what happens when the Belgian team has to leave Russia and head back home and the French man tells his colleagues  ‘Gents, I’ve decided to stay and just sommer catch the final.’ Would they question his loyalty?

The 40 year-old former striker is part of the Belgium technical team headed by coach, Roberto Martínez.

Henry was a prolific striker in his time. He was the perfect blend of intelligence, skill, physical strength and pace. He’s proved his worth, at club and international level. He remains the leading goal scorer at Arsenal FC and for the French national soccer team. He ironically made his debut against Bafana Bafana in 1997- yes, we lost the match.

He has preferred to be in the background throughout this World Cup, but his input is valuable to the team. Martínez has spoken about how much his experience at competing at big tournaments, specifically the World Cup, is helping the players. He was part of France’s last World Cup winning team in 1998, and although he was relatively unknown on the international stage as a 20 year-old, he ended the competition as France’s top goal buster in the tournament.

Henry would probably like to see 20 year-old Kyle Mbappé, do what he did 20 years ago. But withthe same breath wants Eden Hazard to life the trophy come July 15, because he would’ve seen the hard work this Belgian team has put in, since he joined the team when Martínez took over in 2016. This would obviously also be a welcomed addition to his CV as coach.

This game is set to be an enticing one. The calibre of players on both sides, taking each other on, on the highest level of football is a soccer fan’s wet dream. There’s a tinge of unfairness when you look at how these teams, are facing each other in the semi-final. The magnitude of this game is low-key stealing final’s thunder.

Henry is smart enough to know that everything will be decided on the field, and in a dark room with a few guys in font of multiple screens. But I’d like to be that fly on the wall, the fly that obviously understands French, when Henry is taking a shit, expressing his most honest thoughts to himself, after the game. Whatever the outcome thought, Henry should go to sleep tonight a happy man.