Think Olympic football does not matter? Thierry Henry wants a word…
Thierry Henry does not have much room for regrets on a footballing CV that marks him down as one of the finest to play the game.
A World Cup and Euros winner with France, for whom he is record goalscorer, two Premier League titles, two FA Cups and a Champions League final for Arsenal, for whom he is also record scorer.
Before leaving north London with four Premier League Golden Boots he was voted the Gunners’ greatest ever player. By the time he had hung up his boots. he had added a historic treble with Barcelona.
Yet look for the Olympic Rings on his palmares and you will find none. Which brings us to Paris 2024 and the very personal mission he has embarked on as manager of the host nation men’s team.
“My generation had the opportunity to play in the Olympics, we didn’t qualify,” he says. “That’s something that’s always stuck in my throat.
“Yes, I experienced some [great] things after that, but it always stayed with me. The Olympics is one of the only things I haven’t been able to experience in my life.”
All that changes on Wednesday in Marseille when France open their campaign against the United States in the 12-team men’s competition.
Team Henry are aiming to emulate the Les Bleus side which went through the card at the 1984 Games, powering to the gold medal in Los Angeles on the back of little-known Daniel Xuereb’s tournament-high five goals.
That year the French left at home star trio Michel Platini, Alain Giresse and Jean Tigana who had won them the Euros only weeks before. This time they have with them former Arsenal star Alexander Lacazette, Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise and Olise’s former teammate at Crystal Palace, Jean-Philippe Mateta.
“It took time to get to the current situation,” Henry tells FIFA.com. “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.”
Standing in France’s way are some of football’s biggest names, most notably Argentina striker Julian Alvarez.
The Manchester City front man is in France looking to add to his astonishing collection of titles in the past two years.
Since winning the World Cup in 2022, he has added Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup in 2023 and then, this season, Copa America, another Premier League, UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup.
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Brazil have won the last two men’s Olympic tournaments, Neymar’s penalty memorably deciding the final on home soil in 2016 before they edged Spain in extra-time behind closed doors in Tokyo three summers ago.
But with the Samba Boys failing to qualify for the first time since 2004, Argentina are favourites to keep the title in South America.
Aside from Alvarez, La Albiceleste boast former City favourite Nicolas Otamendi, Villarreal’s Geronimo Rulli and shooting star Thiago Almada in a side managed by former West Ham, Liverpool and Barcelona midfielder Javier Mascherano.
Elsewhere, another ex-Liverpool man Naby Keita represents Guinea, Brighton’s Julio Enciso wears the colours of Paraguay and PSG’s Achraf Hakimi turns out for Morocco.
Team GB has no involvement (the home nations cannot agree on how to combine), leaving 12 teams, from which the top two from each of the four pools advance to the knockout stages ahead of the final at Parc des Princes on August 9.
The tournament will be well worth a watch as it has built a reputation as a breeding ground for stars of the future.
The Spain side that reached the final in Tokyo boasted Unai Simon, Mikel Merino, Dani Olmo and Mikel Oyarzabal. England fans will need no reminding what they went on to achieve in this summer’s European Championship.
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