Thierry Henry will coach France at Paris 2024, the Les Bleus legend spoke exclusively to FIFA on missing out on the Games as a player, France’s weight of expectation and his team’s hopes of winning an ‘extraordinary title’ as well as his football philosophy.
One of the greatest footballers of his generation, Thierry Henry performed with passion, adventure and a relentless desire to win.
He is now bringing those qualities to the dugout as he prepares to coach his country at the Men’s Football Olympic Tournament Paris 2024. Aware he is in the spotlight as France aim to again captivate the nation 26 years after winning the FIFA World Cup™ on home soil, Henry is firmly focused on his Olympic objective and has “visualised winning gold”.
With emotion evident in his voice, he opened up on his regrets over missing out on the Olympics as a player, admitting to crying when Italy ended French hopes of gracing Sydney 2000.
Henry now has the chance to pen a new chapter in Les Bleus’ illustrious history, having been involved as a player in some of French football’s proudest moments, from that first global crown in 1998 to the EURO triumph of 2000 and the FIFA Confederations Cup title of 2003.
“We don’t know where we’re going to end up, but we’ll do everything we can to get that [gold] medal,” Henry told FIFA.
The last time France celebrated Olympic glory in football was at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. And while that may be an eternity in footballing terms, ‘patience and fortitude conquer all things’, as the American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson said. Henry is out to help his country end that 40-year itch.
FIFA: With Paris 2024 kicking off in just under four months, can you feel the pressure mounting in the country?
Thierry Henry: Well, there’s a lot of enthusiasm. As for pressure, for sure it’s there because of what France have done in recent years, so the pressure is there from the moment you pull the shirt on. You owe it to yourself to represent your country well. It took time to get to the current situation. We’ve gone from 1978, when we were happy just to go to the World Cup, to 2022, when we were disappointed to lose on penalties in the final. So we’ve come a long way, and now we have to try to win.
A few weeks ago, you said you the gold medal was your objective for Paris 2024…
Yes, it really is, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to win it. There’s a journey between what you visualise and what you end up doing. You’ll find teams blocking your path who can prevent you from getting to where you want to go. But I think at some point, you have to visualise something. If not, then what are you trying to achieve? Where do you want to get to? And what do you want your players to be thinking about?
We have a French team competing at the Olympics in France. Ok. What’s next? Are you going to win it?
I hope so, but it cannot be guaranteed. Me saying that I visualise us winning gold may bother some people, but it’s not arrogance or being super confident. It’s just that at some point, we have to look to win it. It’s like when someone climbs a mountain, they do it aiming for the summit. To get there, though, there are steps you must take. You have to take it in phases, breathe, get your body acclimatised etc. You don’t climb a mountain to stop at the first plateau.
Everyone knows the success you had in 1998. How does it feel to be leading France at another huge home event 26 years later?
My generation had the opportunity to play in the Olympics. We didn’t qualify because we were eliminated by an Italian side who also had a generation of great players. And that’s something that’s always stuck in my throat. Yes, I experienced some [great] things after that, but it’s always stayed with me. Little did I know that, one day, I’d find myself at the helm of a team who had the chance to win an amazing title on home soil. The Olympics is one of the only things I haven’t been able to experience in my life. It’s just crazy to think that, 26 years later [after France 98], I’m in a situation like this one.
Do you think playing at home will give you an advantage?
In recent times, I’ve seen every eventuality. If you look at football at the Olympics, there aren’t many teams that have won gold at home. If you take the last AFCON, yes you had Côte d’Ivoire winning on home soil, as did Qatar at the last Asian Cup. However, we lost EURO 2016 at home, but won the World Cup here in 1998, as well as EURO 1984. We saw Brazil fail to win the World Cup they hosted in 2014 as did the Germans in 2006. So, does it help? Yes, it helps, we’re not going to lie. I remember in 1998 at the airport, there was this groundswell of excitement, and that’s completely normal. Of course it helps, but it can also be an impediment if it’s a little too much in terms of emotion. Occasionally, a team is so desperate to do well that it suddenly works against them. So we’re going to have to control that as well.
France aside, is there another team you envisage going a long way in Paris?
There are always surprises, but I’d say the South American sides. We’re all chasing them. You just have to look at their recent titles – they’re well out in front. With the rest of the opposition, we’re going to try to see how we can stop them, because it’s the South American sides who really do who set the tone.
If you had to single out one performance by an athlete in any discipline at a previous Olympic Games, which would it be?
Marie-Jose Perec, no question. If you cast your mind back to the women’s 200 metres at Atlanta [in 1996], where she was up against Merlene Ottey, nobody thought it was possible. Everyone knew that in the 400 metres she was unbeatable, but to opt for the 200 metres as well and take on Ottey… It was a historic double for a true legend in my opinion.
On a different topic, it’s been announced the World Cup 26 final will be held in New York New Jersey. What memories do you have of your time of playing in New York?
It really was an extraordinary period. Unlike most players, I used to nearly always go on vacation to New York, as far back as 1994, 1995, 1996. These days, all the players go to LA or Miami, but for me it was always New York, even if it wasn’t really a destination for footballers. It’s always been a city I’ve been passionate about, and I still am today. I had the opportunity, of course, to play there with the Red Bulls and to live in Soho in Manhattan. Ever since I was a kid, I knew I was going to end up in MLS. I wanted to go play in New York – that was very clear to me. I could talk for hours about New York. It was amazing to be able to live there, to play football there and to have contributed in small way to the development of the league and this club.
Lastly, how would you describe yourself as a coach and what is the Thierry Henry style of play?
It’s about trying to maintain possession, playing a high line and pressing. Of course, when you take up that kind of position, you leave a lot of space in behind, so you have to manage the transitions well, especially when you lose the ball. Obviously, in the modern game, you can get caught out quickly when you lose possession. For me, there’s no exact formula for winning, and you could win a tournament without dominating possession. I like my teams to play high up the pitch and to try to have the ball, even if you sometimes come up against teams that can deny you that possession.
The question then is: can you adapt to that situation too? In general, you have to try to stick to your preferred style and convince your players [to buy into it]. That’s the hardest part because, even though you might be convinced, sometimes other players can think differently if they play another way for their clubs and get results. So we have to try to create a ‘Team France’ group mentality and progress that way.
