A tribute to Thierry Henry

Titi - as Henry is popularly known, is among the best strikers ever. Only the likes of Ronaldo Luis Nazario, Dennis Bergkamp, Raul Gonzalez, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Alessandro del Piero, Miroslav Klose, Gabriel Batistuta, Alan Shearer et al can claim similar recognition. Given that he was signed instantly after being spotted by AS Monaco's scout just underlines the talent in him. His exploits for the principality club brought about positive fortunes as he earned a call up to the Les Bleus, in the process amassing 123 caps and 51 goals. In 1998, Henry was made a Chevalier - the grandest honor of the French culture. This is after Aime Jacquet lads had conquered the world by comprehensively thrashing Brazil at the Stade de France during the Coupe du Monde finals. The legendary knight of France would then win the UEFA EURO 2000 at Feijenoord Stadion against an Italian side that boasted talents such as Paolo Maldini, Fabio Cannavaro, Francesco Totti,  Alessandro del Piero, Filipo Inzaghi, Alessandro Nesta, Antonio Conte and Gianluca Zambrotta. Thanks God Jose Mourinho was not in the shape of an international football coach as he would have directed expletives towards the Swede referee - Anders Frisk, who he loathed so much (Chelsea vs. Barcelona grudge match). With stalwarts such as Patrick Vieira, Zinedine Zidane, David Trezeguet, Marcel Desailly, Fabien Barthez et al, king Henry won the 2003 Confederations Cup. Momentarily, lets forget about the Raymond Domenech era. It looked like a snip when the Old Lady of Turin acquired his services only to turn him into a winger. However, when his former boss at Monaco - Arsene Wenger, who had joined Arsenal paid eleven million pounds to have him at Highbury, it was clear that lots of pressure were on Henry to justify his price tag. The fee would later look like daylight mugging as the Frenchman topped the scoring charts for seasons as well as cementing his legendary status as a cult figure around the Gunners faithful. It is at Arsenal that he almost made the topscorer trophy exclusively his - save for the exploits of Ruud van Nistelrooy. Given that he liked to cut in from the left during an attack, it made sure that he would have significant volumes of assists on top of his goals. Typical of him, he was heavily influenced by the exploits of Marco van Bastern - former Dutch and A.C. Milan legendary striker. His departure to Barcelona left a bitter taste on the Gunners' faithful but Henry was vindicated as he won the prestigious UEFA Champions League that had notoriously evaded him during his time at Highbury and Emirates. His signing for New York Red Bulls was interpreted as a wider strategy to market the American League - scenes that were augmented by the fact that David Beckham was under the books of LA Galaxy. His return to Arsenal on loan signified that he was still held in high regard by the Stan Kroenke led venture. As Thierry Henry retires to join the punditry team at Sky Sports, its only imperative to salute one of the most recognizable talents of this generation - what would one refer to an individual who has won numerous domestic and international trophies? In this case, lets forget his divorce saga - after all we would be heaping jealousy on Nicole Merry since the legendary striker now dates Andrea Rajacic who happens to be a Bosnian model.