By: Yildiz Subuk, Staff Writer
I’ve never been fond of Arsenal as a soccer club. I don’t know if it’s the jerseys, the fanbase, or the team’s ability to have remarkable seasons before “blowing it” when it matters most. However, there is one player I will always respect and admire, Thierry Henry.
As a child, watching footage of Henry play felt like witnessing a superhuman compete against a team of athletes trying to keep up. His pace was unbelievable, to the point where he could make headlines at the Olympics for sprinting competitions. His accuracy, dribbling, and ball control were impressive, especially when considering the top speed he reached was 39.2 km/hr, the fastest recorded in a major soccer league. That would mean that Henry was about 10 km/hr short of the speed limit for most towns, but he was also balancing a ball with his feet while moving past a team’s defence and deciding how to line up a shot.
I got into soccer during a time when Henry was out of his prime. It was 2013, and Henry had gone from playing in the top leagues in Europe, to the MLS, a place where many legends now go to retire. At the time, Henry was playing for the New York Red Bulls, with many other remarkable players dominating the headlines. FC Barcelona was a force in major sports. I thought I knew a good amount about Barcelona until a clip of Henry came up. I had never seen or heard of Henry before. The clip was an interview with him after Barcelona won the Champions League finals in the 2008–09 season against Manchester United. As he spoke, he teared up. Little did I know, this was Henry’s moment of realization — he’d finally won the last major trophy he had yet to win in his career.
“Henry was about 10 km/hr short of the speed limit for most towns, but he was also balancing a ball with his feet while moving past a team’s defence and deciding how to line up a shot.”
This was also towards the end of Henry’s remarkable career playing in a top-five league. He had reached the fastest speed ever recorded on the pitch, became Arsenal’s top scorer with 228 goals (a record he still holds today), and won the World Cup and the Euro, along with many domestic trophies. Henry also played a crucial part in Arsenal’s historic unbeaten season in 2004 and is often considered one of the best players to never win a men’s Ballon d’Or, which is awarded yearly to the best player.
Watching Henry often reminded me that there are some players who everyone wishes they played like, and whose ability seems impossible to reach, despite the practice. While many noticeably talented players can dribble well and shoot on target, not many can sprint across the entire pitch so effortlessly. At times, clips of Henry seemed almost edited. After a stellar career, Henry retired in 2014. While I always viewed him as someone with exceptional talent, a recent interview shed some light on the fact that Henry did eventually burn out and reach his limit.
“I wanted to run. I couldn’t,” he told the interviewer, as he described how his daughter wanted to play tag with him one day, but the pain in his leg restricted him from getting up and chasing her. He elaborated on how he had been feeling pain in his achilles for nearly 10 years, but continued playing. While this information saddened me, it was a stark reminder of the fact that despite your physical capabilities, you will reach your limits. Despite reaching his limit, Henry became a legend — someone who, for a moment in time, made his own soccer clips seem like they were moving at twice the speed.
