‘That’s when I knew’
Thierry Henry has recalled the heartbreaking moment he knew that his playing days as a professional footballer were over.
Henry is known for being one of the best players in Premier League history and shined on the world stage too.
Starting his career out at Monaco, it was Arsenal where he would make his name, scoring over 175 goals in all competitions for the Gunners.
He would also win the Champions League with Barcelona and even tasted succession internationally, winning the World Cup with France.
The forward retired from football in 2015 after spending five years at New York Red Bulls.
Once again, Henry would enjoy his time in the US however it was where he noticed that he could no longer play like he used to before he eventually hung up his boots.
Recalling the incident to Steven Bartlett on the Diary of a CEO podcast, Henry explained that he had playing with his daughter when a problem he had been dealing with for 10 years cropped up once more.
He said: “My daughter was at home in New York. I suffered from an Achilles problem for more than 10 years both sides. I was in pain every morning, the pain was never going away all day, both sides, both of my Achilles. I was in pain, afternoon, night, for 10 years.”
“So I’m at home with my daughter and she comes close to me, touches me and goes ‘you’re it,’ and she ran. I wanted to run, I couldn’t. I looked at her and said ‘Hey you won’. I couldn’t chase her.
“I stopped and went ‘What are you doing?’ Like, I just couldn’t, I’m not even joking Steven, she ran and I just couldn’t move. That’s when I knew, I couldn’t handle the pain anymore.”
Since retiring, Henry has largely worked as a pundit for the likes of Sky Sports and CBS and is currently the head coach of the French Under-21s side.
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