Exclusive: Thierry Henry on tricky Olympics preparation, dreaming of Olympic gold at Paris 2024 and Kylian Mbappe
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Updated 19/06/2024 at 15:52 GMT
Thierry Henry will take charge of France's football team at the Paris 2024 Olympics, but has had to contend with challenges in preparing his group. Chief among those has been the uncertain participation of Kylian Mbappe, who recently confirmed he would not be present at the Games. Henry, talking to Eurosport, said that his team - despite the flux - are eyeing the top step of the podium.
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Thierry Henry, speaking exclusively to Eurosport, has said that there is a great challenge to plan tactically for the 2024 Olympic Games without knowing his full squad, including the absence of new Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe.
Henry takes charge of his country's 22-man squad for the football event at the forthcoming Games, but there is no place on that roster currently for Mbappe, with the soon-to-be Real Madrid forward abiding by his new club's rules, which prevent their players taking part.
Speaking recently on the situation, Mbappe - currently at the Euros looking to recover from a broken nose - said: "My club's position is very clear, and I understand that I will not be there.
"I understand my club's position as I am a newcomer. I hope we win the Games."
And though Henry said that news had been made "clear" to him, he refused to totally rule out the possibility of Mbappe featuring for Les Bleus.
"There is always hope [of him playing], even if I was told no," Henry told Eurosport France.
"You never know what's going to happen in life. At 99.9%, there is still 0.1% left to reach 100%.
"However, since I was told no, it was quite clear."
Henry - alongside the will he-won't he participation of Mbappe - has had to contend with uncertainty around the overall make-up of his squad.
He says this has hampered his preparations for the tournament, which takes place between July 24 and August 10 around multiple venues in France.
"When you are a coach, you try to foresee how you are going to play tactically," Henry said.
"Which pairing will play upfront, at the back, in the middle.
"But when you start to lose players, it gets complicated. At one point, we didn’t even have 22 [players].
"It's difficult to think about tactics when you don't even know which players you're going to have.
"Now, we're in the preparation stage, we can see things a little more clearly, all the while hoping that, of course, that we don’t have a player or two being recalled by their clubs.
"At some point, you just want to know who you have so you can move forward.
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"The Argentinian team have already played three or four friendly matches, there are others who have come out of the Asian Cup. These teams therefore have experience that we do not have at the moment. We will try to get it as quickly as possible."
Nonetheless, Henry says there can only be one target for his men.
"When I was a player, the only thing that mattered was winning," the 1998 World Cup winner said.
"Beyond that, there is a path taken, from time to time, which allows you to transcend and inspire certain people. That's also a victory.
"We can also remember teams that lose because they stirred something in us.
"In the end though, let's be honest: not winning isn't great.
"When I arrived here, I spoke to the president of the FFF (French Football Federation) and I told him that I was visualising gold. No matter who is on this team, we must try to get that gold medal."
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