 |
|
||
 |
|||
 |
 |
 |
   |  | |||||||||||||||||||||
 Thierry Henry
France | Forward Age: 28 Like the rest of the French team, Henry has improved as the tournament has gone on. Few would have picked the 1998 world champions as quarterfinalists after a dismal 0-0 draw with Switzerland in their opening game. But, having started the tournament looking disjointed and complacent, there is now an air of determination and common purpose about Raymond Domenech's squad -- typified by the improving form of key players Henry and Zinedine Zidane. Henry scored in France's 1-1 draw with South Korea and then steered his side towards the kncokcout stages with a goal in their final group match against Togo. In France's upset 3-1 win over Spain in the second round he was a buzzing, menacing presence, creating the space for Franck Ribery's equalizer and then winning the freekick for Patrick Vieira's go-ahead goal. Henry already boasts a list of winners medals, both domestically and internationally, that few players can match. However, there is a school of thought that believes that, despite his honors with France, he is more effective in the red of Arsenal than the blue of his country. Under Arsene Wenger's reign, Henry's seven years in London have been historic -- breaking the club's all-time goalscoring record and spearheading them to a host of trophies, as well as leading the London side to their first ever Champions League final in his home city of Paris. Astonishing pace, balance and poise -- as seen to great effect when scoring the vital winning goal against Ireland in qualifying -- mark Henry as the Premier League's greatest ever import. 
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
| © 2007 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map. |
|
External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pay service with live and archived video. 
