11 Interesting Facts About Thierry Henry

Do you want to learn interesting facts about Thierry Henry?

Born on August 17, 1977, Thierry Daniel Henry is a professional football coach who is also a former player in the sport of football. He is a legendary figure in sports and is widely recognized as one of the most talented strikers in the history of the Premier League. 

During his career, Henry won a number of awards, including the Ballon d’Or (a great metric to determine the best football players of all time) in 2003 where he was a runner-up but was able to win third place in 2006. Additionally, he was awarded the title of FIFA World Player of the Year in 2004.

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But these are just some of the interesting information about Thierry Henry. You’ll discover more about this famous French athlete as you go through this article.

11 Interesting Facts About Thierry Henry

1. Thierry Henry is of Antillean descent

Because Henry plays for France, a lot of people wrongly assume that he has African ancestry since France is known for colonizing many African countries. Thierry Henry has ancestors who originated in the Caribbean. His mother, Maryse, is from Martinique, and his father, Antoine Henry, hails from Guadeloupe.

But Thierry Henry was born and raised in the Paris suburb of Les Ulis. The neighborhood he grew up in was seen as tough, but it gave him a memorable childhood as the place provides good football facilities.

2. Henry is one of the world’s best footballers

Thierry Henry will always be part of the list of the best footballers in the world. His unique style of playing as well as his goal-scoring records allowed him to establish himself as a champion in football.

Henry was able to win the Champions League, the World Cup, the Euro Tournament, the FA Cup, the Copa del Rey, the Spanish League, and the Premier League trophy as a result of his outstanding performance in his games.

3. He is an all-time great French goal scorer

Henry was able to rack up a total of 228 goals over the course of his entire professional career. As a player, his unwavering commitment enabled him to amass an impressive number of goals scored. 

In fact, in October of 2007, he surpassed the record held by Michael Platini (41 goals), thereby making history in the football  industry. Henry made 123 appearances for the French national team at the international level and scored 51 goals for France.

 Even after he retired as a player, fans are still chanting his name. In fact, Betfair conducted a survey in 2022 with YouGov in celebration of the Premier League’s 30th anniversary.

They surveyed more than a thousand football fans to determine which player in the Premier League is the best, and Thierry Henry came out on top with 15% of the vote as the best player of all time.

4. Thierry Henry listens to rap music as a pre-game inspiration

Thierry Henry enjoys putting on his headphones and getting pumped up for each game by listening to music.  His preferred genre of music is known as Zouk, which is a fast-paced rap style.

Snoop Dog, Xzibit, Wu Tang Klan, and Dr. Dre are just a few of his all-time favorite rappers, and he enjoys listening to all of them. Henry claims that the beat and lyrics of their music help him concentrate and get into the right frame of mind before going on a match.

5. Henry is also a commercial star

One trivia about Thierry Henry is aside from being a football star, he is also a commercial phenom. His success on the football field led to endorsement deals with several well-known companies, including Nike, Pepsi, Gilette, Rebook, and Renault.

In addition to that, he is the famous face of a great number of prominent campaigns.

As a result of the success of his various commercials and campaigns, he became one of the highest paid soccer players in the world. In 2011, he is earning an average of US$21 million a year.

6. Thierry Henry has a statue outside the Emirates Stadium

One of the fun facts about Thierry Henry is that he has a statue that can be found at the southeast corner of Emirates Stadium.

The statue weighed around 200 kilograms and took approximately 625 hours to create. It was placed on December 7, 2011, alongside several other legendary players from Arsenal, including Ken Friar, Dennis Bergkamp, Herbert Chapman, and Tony Adams.

The statue dedicated to Henry depicts the momentous celebration he had after scoring a goal in a match against Tottenham Hotspur in the year 2002. The statue was built to remember his contribution to the history of sports.

7. Thierry’s ‘Va-va-voom’ was added in the Oxford Dictionary

‘Va-va-voom’ is a word popularized by the legendary French footballer. The term originated as a result of his participation in commercials for Renault. It has become associated with Henry’s personality, especially during games.

Moreover, another trivia about Thierry Henry is that the phrase “va-va-voom” was given a definition in the Oxford Dictionary, which describes it as “the quality of being exciting, vigorous, or sexually attractive.”

8. Thierry is a basketball fanatic

One of the interesting information about Thierry Henry is the fact that he is a huge fan of basketball. San Antonio Spurs is his favorite team in basketball. Henry was seen on multiple occasions wearing the San Antonio Spurs jersey and hat.

Additionally, Henry is also friends with famous basketball legends like Kobe Bryant and Tony Parker. He often hangs out with Bryant and Parker and even visited the latter during his practice sessions.

9. “We are the Champions” is Henry’s favorite song

Thierry Henry loves music. Before his games, he would listen to rap in order to concentrate and perform well. But he has admitted that the song “We Are the Champions” by Queen is the one that he always listens to when he is trying to get into a meditative state.

But according to some speculations, Henry just started connecting with the song after France won the World Cup in 2018.

10. Thierry Henry is the founder of the ‘The One 4 All Foundation’

Another fun fact about Thierry Henry is that he established his own charitable organization known as “The One 4 All Foundation”.  The foundation was named after him by combining his initials (THe) and his Arsenal jersey number 14 (One 4).

The mission of the charity was to combat racism and social inequality, which were issues he had personally encountered throughout his childhood. The charitable organization run by Henry provides financial support for educational initiatives and athletic programs for young people in Europe and Africa.

11. Henry has been featured in movies

The success that Thierry Henry had as a football player led him to explore a career in the film and television industries. 

One of the fun facts about Thierry Henry is his appearance in some of the most popular television shows, such as Parkinson (1971), Children in Need (1980), and Match of the Day (1964).

Additionally, Henry appeared as a guest on popular episodes of Jimmy Fallon’s “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” and James Corden’s “The Late Late Show with James Corden.”

In addition, Henry had roles in the movies “Goal!: Living the Dream” which was released in 2007, and “Goal III,” which was released two years later. The film is about a soccer star who was offered a spot with Real Madrid.