“My future? It’s going to eat with the players and the families, that’s my future. It’s a bit late, I hope it’s still open.”Thierry Henry curtly responded to a foreign journalist’s question at a press conference on Friday evening at the Parc des Princes. It was almost two hours after the final of the football tournament of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games lost against Spain after extra time (3-5). It seemed obvious to the French followers of this Olympic selection: the 98 world champion remains at the head of the Espoirs.
Unlike Hervé Renard, who was hired by the FFF to lead the French women’s team to the 2023 World Cup and then to the Games, Thierry Henry is not leaving his post in the wake of the Olympic tournament organized in France. “Titi” is under contract until 2025 with the Espoirs and his objectives are clear: to qualify for the European Championship in the category and lead the Bleuets to a title that has eluded France since 1988. The Euro U21 is scheduled from June 11 to 28 in Slovakia. It is very difficult to see Henry, now an Olympic silver medalist, answering the call of a European club. He seems very invested in his mission.
Thierry Henry resumes in a month
The Bleuets are just resuming the Euro qualifiers in a month with the receptions of Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, on September 6 and 10, respectively in Angers and Le Mans. Thierry Henry’s players have blown a wild card in their qualifying group because, after three victories against the Slovenians (0-4), the Bosnians (1-2) and Cyprus (9-0), they were surprised in Austria (2-0 defeat last November). Slovenia has a three-point lead with one more game. First place qualifies, second only sends to the play-offs…
As Henry proclaimed on France 2, “this team is dead”. It’s a case of saying so. In addition to Loïc Badé, Alexandre Lacazette and Jean-Philippe Mateta, the three players over 23 years old called up for the Games, the “2001” are also not Espoirs, namely Adrien Truffert, Manu Koné, Joris Chotard and Michael Olise. Guillaume Restes, Castello Lukeba, Maghnes Akliouche, Rayan Cherki and Arnaud Kalimuendo will still be there, but Thierry Henry has mainly built his team around Warren Zaïre-Emery as captain and Bradley Barcola, “snatched” by Didier Deschamps for Euro 2024.
