Thierry Henry, who won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship with France and is English club Arsenal’s all-time top scorer, has opened up about how he “probably suffered from depression” during his sporting career.
The ex-striker, now 46, said he experienced an episode where “he cried practically every day” at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, while he was managing CF Montreal.
Henry, who is now the coach of the French under-21 team, linked his problems to his past and his relentless quest for recognition, as he grew up in the shadow of a father who criticized him constantly for his performances on the field.
In interview as part of the podcast show Diary of a CEOHenry said: “Throughout my career, and since birth, I believe I have been depressed.
“Was I aware of that? No. Have I tried to fix this? No. But I adapted, in a way. Maybe I’ve lost my way, but at least I’m one.”
In life, “you have to put one foot (in front) and then another, and walk. “That’s what I’ve been told since I was young,” he explained. I never stopped walking,” except during the COVID-19 pandemic when “I couldn’t take it anymore. And then you start to realize things.”
Henry, who scored 228 goals in all competitions in two spells with Arsenal, mentioned he put on “a cape” whenever he felt “a problem was going to arise” during his career, and added that After announcing his retirement in 2014 he “tried to find a way to wear this cape”.
He was part of the Belgian team’s coaching staff before managing Monaco and eventually joining CF Montreal towards the end of 2019.
Henry said: “Then COVID happened. I was alone in Montreal, and it was difficult not being able to see my children for a year.”
During this period, he “cried practically every day for no reason,” adding, “the tears flowed on their own. I don’t know why, but maybe I’ve been holding them in for too long.
“Technically it wasn’t me, it was me when I was younger. (I cried) for everything I had not received, the recognition,” he added.
After reflecting on his return home, as he prepared to return to Montreal in early 2021, he confided: “I put my suitcases in the hall to say goodbye and all the Everyone started crying, from the nanny to my partner, including my children.
“For the first time…I thought, ‘Oh, they see it, not the soccer player, not the braces,’ and I felt human,'” he continued.
“I put down my bags and resigned from my position at CF Montreal. I said, ‘What am I doing here? Am I going back there just to please others? They like Thierry, not Thierry Henry’. I stayed, and for the first time I felt human… It was wonderful. »