Thierry Henry is, in the eyes of many football fans, the greatest player of the Premier League era.The Frenchman joined Arsenal from Juventus in 1999 after a brief but disappointing spell in Turin and left the Gunners in 2007 as a club legend.Henry, who returned to the Emirates Stadium on loan in 2012, scored 228 goals in 376 appearances for the north London outfit.Between 2001-2006, Henry was on a different level to any other player in the Premier League.He scored a magnificent 130 league goals between the 2001-02 and 2005-06 campaigns and helped the Gunners win two titles, as well as two FA Cups.Henry brought the curtain down on his illustrious career in 2014 and has since worked as both a pundit and coach in recent years.He is currently employed as Montreal Impact’s head coach and celebrates his 43rd birthday on Monday.
Now, Henry scored some incredible goals over the course of his career. We all remember his solo goal against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu and his brilliant long-distance effort on the turn against Manchester United.But arguably his most outrageous goal came in a pre-season friendly against Austrian side SC Weiz back in July 2005.Because it was scored in pre-season 15 years ago, not everyone will have seen this unbelievable goal before.Philippe Senderos picked out Henry with a long-range pass and the mercurial Frenchman killed the ball with an impeccable first touch before dinking it over the defender’s head.He then spotted the SC Weiz goalkeeper off his line and dinked the ball into the back of the net on the volley with his left foot.
It was a moment of sheer individual brilliance from one of the most talented footballers of his generation.Watch it here…
Now that’s special.
Arsenal ran out 5-0 winners that day thanks to a brace from Henry, plus additional goals from Mathieu Flamini, David Bentley and Dennis Bergkamp.
Fans have also been remembering some of Henry’s other moments of magic on his 43rd birthday…
What. A. Player.