Thierry Henry has opened up about realising he “must have been in depression” during his career.
The 46-year-old former forward, who won the World Cup with France and is Arsenal’s all-time highest scorer, says he had a moment early in the coronavirus pandemic where he was “crying almost every day”.
Henry has linked that to his past and a search for approval, having grown up with a father who was critical of his performances.
Speaking on the Diary of a CEO podcast, Henry said: “Throughout my career, and since I was born, I must have been in depression.
“Did I know it? No. Did I do something about it? No. But I adapted to a certain way. That doesn’t mean I’m walking straight, but I’m walking. You’ve got to put one foot (forward) and another one, and walk. That’s what I’ve been told since I’m young.
“I never stopped walking, then maybe I would have realised. (But during) Covid – I stopped walking. I couldn’t. Then you start to realise.”
Henry says he had a “cape” for when he “felt a struggle coming” during his playing career, and that after retiring in 2014, he then was “trying to find a way to wear that cape”.
He was on the Belgium coaching staff and managed Monaco before taking charge at Montreal Impact in late 2019, and he said: “Then Covid happened. I was in isolation in Montreal, and not being able to see my kids for a year was tough.”
Henry says at that time he was “crying almost every day for no reason”, adding: “Tears were coming alone. Why I don’t know, but maybe they were there for a very long time.
“Technically, it wasn’t me, it was the young me. (Crying for) everything he didn’t get, approval.”
Regarding his upbringing, Henry said his father was “very particular at times on how I was as a player”, adding: “As a little boy it was always ‘you didn’t do that well’. So obviously when you hear that more often than not, that’s what’s going to stay.”
He recalled an occasion as a teenager when he scored all of the goals in a 6-0 win, only for his father to tell him he should not be happy because “you missed that control, you missed that cross.”
While the situation “did to a degree help the athlete” it “didn’t help so much the human being”, he said.
Henry – currently France Under-21s boss – says after the period of isolation in Montreal, he had a key moment with his children that made him “feel human”.
Reflecting on when he had come back home and was about to return to Montreal in early 2021, he said: “I put my bags down to say bye and everybody starts to cry, from the nanny to my girlfriend to the kids.
“For the first time…I am like ‘oh – they see me, not the football player, not the accolades’, and I felt human.
“I put my bags down and I stopped coaching in Montreal. I said ‘What am I doing? Going to go again into a situation just because of your pursuit of pleasing people? They love Thierry, not Thierry Henry.’ I stayed, for the first time I felt human…and it felt nice.”
Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Mitrovic scores last-gasp penalty
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a penalty in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time as Al-Hilal denied Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr victory in a 1-1 draw.
Mitrovic netted his 27th Saudi Pro League goal of the campaign after Sadio Mane was harshly judged to have fouled Saud Abdulhamid in the area.
Mane stuck out an arm to shield the ball, catching his opponent in the throat, though the contact appeared to have been outside of the box.
Mitrovic made no mistake to keep Al-Hilal's unbeaten campaign going.
The Serbian's spot-kick cancelled out Otavio's first-minute opener, with Ronaldo having set up his compatriot.
Champions Al-Hilal remain 12 points clear of Al-Nassr at the summit of the Pro League standings.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo the provider
Ronaldo leads the scoring charts in Saudi Arabia this season, though he had to settle for an assist on Friday.
That came from the only chance he created, with the 39-year-old limited to 25 touches, though he did have four shots.
Al-Ittihad pegged back as winless run rolls on
Mohamed Sherif scored late on as Al-Ittihad's winless run in the Saudi Pro League stretched to four games after a 1-1 draw with Al-Khaleej.
Al-Ittihad have endured a miserable title defence, and with just two games remaining, the highest the big-spending, PIF-backed club can finish is fourth.
Muhannad Al Shanqiti put them ahead on the stroke of half-time, yet despite having a further eight shots and accumulating 1.07 xG in the second half, Al-Ittihad could not add another.
Their profligacy proved costly in the 81st minute, with Egypt international Sherif snatching an equaliser for 11th-placed Al-Khaleej.
Al-Tai moved out of the relegation zone with a surprise 3-1 win over seventh-placed Al-Fateh, with Bernard Mensah scoring twice.
Al-Raed, meanwhile, claimed a 1-0 win at Al-Wehda.
Data Debrief: Kante the creator?
On the day he received a surprising France recall, N'Golo Kante created three chances for Al-Ittihad, leading the team.
On the flip side, Kante only attempted one tackle, with the midfielder showing a different side to his game, not that it proved fruitful for his team.
Ronaldo motivated to keep playing at top level
Cristiano Ronaldo has no intention of stopping as he says he is still motivated to compete with the "young lions" coming through in the game.
Ronaldo is reportedly considering signing a contract extension to keep him at Al-Nassr until June 2026, taking him past his 41st birthday.
The Portugal international has scored 42 goals in 41 appearances for the Saudi Pro League club this season, and he insists he is still motivated to keep going.
Speaking on the Whoop podcast, he said: "I feel proud to have this age and still compete at the highest level. It's great, and it gives me motivation to carry on.
"If you look at my career for the last 20 years, my level is high. If you are top for 20 years, it's unbelievable.
"I do that, and I continue to do that. For me, it's a big achievement."
Ronaldo has scored an incredible 891 goals in his career and is the all-time leading scorer in men’s international football with 128 goals.
"My biggest motivation is to carry on," he added. "It's not easy to be at this level.
"To still push, to still motivate, to carry on, to score goals, to be in good shape, to compete with the young lions that are coming and that when they play against me, they want to show me that they are stronger and faster than me.
"You have to prepare very well, not just physically but mentally, too. This is the challenge.
"Talent without work is nothing and work without talent is nothing. They have to work together at the same time. I have both. I can't say that I have more of one than the other.
"Small details will make the difference. Consistency is the most difficult thing.
"Are you willing to do that? That's the main point, because everyone wants to be Cristiano, but doing it is difficult. Discipline is the most difficult thing."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
