Thierry Henry is set to make his New York Red Bulls debut against Tottenham in the Barclays New York challenge on July 22, before he and his team-mates take on Manchester City on July 25. With Sporting Lisbon also in town, the French striker will come face-to-face with a few old friends – and foes. We profile a few here...
Robbie Keane (Tottenham Hotspur)
Keane had already scored against Henry’s Arsenal for Coventry City – in a famous 3-2 win at Highfield Road on Boxing Day 1999 – when he signed for arch-rivals Tottenham in 2002, after spells at Internazionale and Leeds United. Despite Keane’s goals, Spurs remained in the shadow of their more illustrious North London rivals and it wasn’t until Henry left the Gunners that Keane finally tasted victory over Arsenal in a Tottenham shirt. Hostilities were renewed last November as that handball handed the French a place at the World Cup at the expense of Keane’s Republic of Ireland.
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Carlo Cudicini (Tottenham Hotspur)
Italian goalkeeper, Cudicini has made an astonishing recovery from a serious motorbike accident in November 2009 and after playing 90 minutes against San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday could well stand in the way of Henry and a debut goal for the Red Bulls. After joining Chelsea in 1999, Cudicini enjoyed many battles against Henry’s Arsenal – however, he may well be best remembered for fumbling a Robert Pires cross at Highbury in 2003 that allowed Henry to score a crucial winner for the Gunners.
Patrick Vieira (Manchester City)
When Henry joined Arsenal in 1999, he was the latest in a long line of French imports brought over by coach Arsene Wenger. One of the first was his World Cup-winning France team-mate Vieira. While at Arsenal the pair not only won a raft of domestic honours but also captured the Euro 2000 trophy for their country. When Vieira left Highbury for Italy in 2005, Henry inherited the captaincy from the midfielder and led the club to the Champions League final. The pair remained international team-mates until both retired from Les Bleus this summer.
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The Touré brothers (Manchester City)
Henry and Kolo were both integral parts of Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ who went unbeaten on their way to the 2004 Premier League crown. As team-mates the pair also won the FA Cup twice and reached the 2006 Champions League final. On leaving North London in 2007, Henry hooked up with Kolo’s brother, Yaya, at Barcelona. During their three years at the Camp Nou they won an unprecedented haul of trophies, capturing La Liga (twice), the Copa del Rey, the Champions League, the Super Cup and the World Club Cup.
Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City)
Having signed for Arsenal in January 2006 from Henry’s former club Monaco, the new team-mates played against each other at the World Cup in Germany that year – Henry scoring the second goal in France’s 2-0 win over Adebayor’s Togo. When Henry moved to Barcelona, the Togolese striker grabbed his chance, scoring a remarkable 30 goals in all competitions during the 2007-08 season. A rather less productive year followed and he moved to Man City last summer. With big-money signings sure to flood Eastlands before the new season starts, Adebayor will want to impress in the USA.
Hélder Postiga (Sporting Lisbon)
After winning the World Cup in 1998, and suffering an ignominious group stage exit in 2002, Henry was at the fore as France marched back to the final in 2006. In the semi-final against Portugal Henry won the decisive penalty converted by Zinedine Zidane. Postiga was introduced in the second half but was unable to inspire his team-mates as France went on to lose to Italy in the final. Prior to that game, Postiga had followed Henry to North London in 2003 but endured a trying season at Tottenham before returning to Portugal.
For more from Thierry Henry and the New York Red Bulls head to NewYorkRedBulls.com.
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