Thierry Henry appointed coach of Espoirs and the French Olympic team

2023-08-21 18:42:00

The 46-year-old former Arsenal player was chosen unanimously by the executive committee of the French Football Federation.

By IM with AFP Thierry Henry has been appointed coach of the Espoirs and the French Olympic team. © Marion Boisjot / MAXPPP / PHOTOPQR/L’YONNE REPUBLICAINE/MA Published on 08/21/2023 at 6:42 p.m.

He will have the heavy responsibility of making the French shine on the football field at the Paris-2024 Olympics. Thierry Henry, former legendary scorer, was appointed coach of the Espoirs and the French Olympic team on Monday August 21, indicates a source close to the negotiations. According to the latter, the choice of Thierry Henry to succeed Sylvain Ripoll was unanimously validated by the executive committee of the French Football Federation.

He could direct Kylian Mbappé there since the 2018 world champion has repeatedly proclaimed his “dream” of competing in the Olympic Games, a wish supported by the FFF. The men’s football Olympics are reserved for players aged 23 or under, but each team can include three older elements in its group.

Sylvain Ripoll sacked after the elimination of Bleuets at Euro 2023

Henry was part of a list of four candidates, also including Jocelyn Gourvennec, Julien Stéphan and Sabri Lamouchi, applicants to replace Sylvain Ripoll, sacked after the elimination of Bleuets in the quarter-finals of Euro 2023 against Ukraine ( 3-1).

Through his record and his aura, Henry, world (1998) and European (2000) champion with the France team, will inevitably offer very high media visibility to the Espoirs selection which, in addition to Paris 2024, will have the task of to get his ticket for Euro 2025. The first qualifying match is scheduled for September 11 in Slovenia after a friendly on September 7 against Denmark in Nancy.

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But if the former striker (51 goals in 123 blue caps) had a huge playing career, his conversion as head coach has been much less successful so far. His first experience in Monaco lasted only three and a half months, between October 2018 and January 2019. He was then named head of the Montreal Impact in MLS in November 2019 but he will end up resigning in February 2021 without results. convincing.

He was also twice the assistant coach of the Belgium team (2016-2018, 2021-2022), with which he reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2018. Henry was also very present in the last two years on television in a consulting role (Amazon Prime Video in France, CBS Sports in the United Kingdom).