The Hindu : Sport / Football : Henry finds the perfect riposte

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Friday, Jun 30, 2006

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Henry finds the perfect riposte

Martyn Ziegler

Berlin: Thierry Henry insists France's win over Spain was the perfect answer to Luis Aragones.

The Spanish coach, who racially abused Henry to his Arsenal team-mate Jose Antonio Reyes two years ago, has never apologised for the comment.

Following France's 3-1 victory in Hanover on Tuesday, Henry said: "A lot of people were speculating about Aragones and I don't want to talk about it because there is no point. But the best answer was the win."

After his remark, Aragones was fined by the Spanish FA — who were criticised at the time by Henry for its leniency — and the Arsenal captain was also less than impressed with Spanish fans booing and whistling during the French national anthem.

He added: "I think you should respect the national anthem of another country. They do whatever they want to do. But I thought it was a bit below par. Everybody found that a great shame."

France's struggle for goals in the group stage led to many critics writing off its chances, but Frank Ribery, Patrick Vieira and Zinedine Zidane all scored to beat much-fancied Spain.

Henry, 28, said: "We got a lot of stick for not scoring in the group stage. What I would say is that we just grew up in the tournament. I'm not saying we are going to win it.

"Zinedine also got a lot of criticism and it was good that he scored the third goal."

France could potentially meet England in the semifinals. Les Bleus face Brazil in the quarterfinals. — PA Sport

AP reports

I don't cheat, says Henry

France striker Theirry Henry insisted on Wednesday that he did not cheat to help clinch his country's World Cup win over Spain.

The Spanish captain Carlos Puyol claimed Henry had dived to win the free-kick that led to France's decisive second goal in Les Bleus' 3-1 triumph in Hanover on Tuesday.

Puyol was furious as Patrick Vieira headed France into the lead from Zinedine Zidane's resulting setpiece, but Arsenal star Henry maintained he was fouled by the Barcelona defender.

He told BBC's Match of the Day: "Spain's left-back Mariano Perina was going to win the ball so I don't know why Puyol cut across me, but he did. I don't cheat."

Henry believes Raymond Domenech's side could repeat their 1998 World Cup victory thanks to its indomitable team spirit.

Despite widespread rumours of unrest in the French camp before the tournament and suggestions the senior players were unhappy with Domenech, Henry is adamant his teammates are united in their desire to win the World Cup again.

He added: "I think we have got a lot of stick, but we have shown that we are a team.

"Now, no matter what happens, and you never know what can happen later on during the competition, we showed to our fans and to our people back in France that we are a team."

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