Thierry Henry

Thierry Daniel Henry is a French professional soccer player currently signed as a striker for Fútbol Club Barcelona in the Spanish La Liga. He also plays in the French national team where he is the team captain.

Henry started his professional career with AS Monaco in the French Premiere Division in 1990, making his debut in 1994. He was bought by Juventus in the Serie A in 1998, after making his first international appearance for France in the 1998 World Cup, where he became France's top scorer with three goals.

In 1999, Henry was bought by Arsenal of the English Premiere League, where he emerged as Arsenal's top goal-scorer for almost every season of his tenure there. Under long-time mentor and coach Arsène Wenger, Henry became a prolific striker and Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with 226 goals in all competitions.

In 2007, Henry transferred FC Barcelona in the Spanish La Liga, for €24 million.

Henry is of Antillean heritage: his father, Antoine, is from Guadeloupe (La Désirade island), and his mother, Maryse, is from Martinique. He was born and raised in a tough environment in the heavily urbanized Les Ulis district of Paris which, despite its hardships, provided good footballing facilities. As a seven-year-old, Henry showed great potential, prompting Claude Chezelle to recruit him to the local club CO Les Ulis. His father pressured him to attend training, although the youngster was not particularly drawn to football. He joined US Palaiseau in 1989, but after a year his father fell out with the club, so Henry moved to ES Viry-Châtillon for two years. US Palaiseau coach Jean-Marie Panza, Henry's future mentor, followed him there.