France star taunts Belgium assistant ahead of semifinal
French football icon Thierry Henry is in an awkward position ahead of Tuesday’s World Cup semifinal, and Olivier Giroud is having some fun with it.
Over the weekend, the star French forward Giroud took an opportunity to playfully taunt Henry, who is now an assistant coach for Belgium.
“There’s a lot of mutual respect. I don’t resent him,” said Giroud of Henry, per Joe Miles of The Sun. “My job’s to be good on the pitch, to help my team. But I’d be proud to show Titi [Henry’s nickname] that he chose the wrong side!
“He’s a living legend of French football, and we have a lot of respect for him,” Giroud continued. “We have a lot of respect for what he’s done, but we’re not going to think about very much. I’d have preferred him to be with us and to be giving his advice to me.”
Henry, 40, may be the most renowned Frenchman in the history of the sport. He retired from international play in 2010 as the country’s all-time leading goalscorer and helped lead France to their only World Cup victory in 1998.
However, the former Arsenal great has served as the second assistant for Belgium under manager Roberto Martinez since 2016. At this point though, Henry is probably already used to stirring up controversy at the World Cup.
