Henry: "I'm a bit of a loner beause of my youth"

Barcelona player Thiery Henry gave an interview to Catalan sports paper Sport.





We'll talk about everything. It's not that I'm bored with football, I love the game. But it's good to talk some more about other things. Only talking about football is fatiguing.

They accuse you of being disgruntled.
It's now one and a half year that I'm talking about the same things, answering the same questions. When you talk about other things, about the city, about where I come from, what I'm thinking of, that's when you are able to get to know a person. There are a lot of things behind the person you see.

Well, let's start with Les Ulis, the place where you were born.
It's a district a few kilometres from Paris. I learned a lot of things out on the street. If I could choose, I would do it all again. I am who I am thanks to my father. I saw hard things when I was a child but I was lucky to have very correct parents. Sometimes I didn't understand why my friends could go out at night. They came looking for me at my place and I saw them through the window. That frustrated me. While they were enjoying themselves outside, I asked my mother why I couldn't go out. The answer was always 'no' and it hurted a lot.

You're describing a complicated adolescense?
Almost all my friends from that time are in prison now. It wasn't easy to get out of there. But I understand that if you're a father, you need to be severe in a neighbourhood like that. Ours was complicated, although it wasn't a slum area. There are a lot of young guys who don't listen to their parents and that's a problem. Mine were strict but that way I was able to get somewhere.

Tell me something about your family.
My mother is Maryse and my father Antoine. I have two brothers, Willy and Dimitry, my half-brother. My father left home when I was eight years old. I left the area when my father went away although I never stopped seeing him. When I got out of there, it was clear to me that I had to walk a straight line in my life. I felt that I had to do something. I was alone in the house with my mother, Willy was in the army and I noticed that I was unsettled.

This has affected you?
People don't understand why I'm a bit of a loner but that's the reason. My brother was in the army and I was at home alone, being eleven years old. I felt like I was the only child. I couldn't go out and that explains why I like to be alone. I had to do something and, luckily, football was a way to escape.

How did you start playing?
I started at Les Ulis, thanks to my father. I was just trying to make him feel happy. He took me to the stadium and I saw that he was more happy than I when I was playing. All children want to do something for their father, but at that time football wasn't the number one priority in my life.


This was the first part of this interview. You will be able to read the other parts in the coming days with henry talking -among other things- about his relationships and his music taste.

Read more interview with Barcelona players:
Messi: "We want the Liga back"
Bojan: "I'm not planning to give up studying"
Keita: "One hour before we know who will play"