Henry’s knee passes solid test
Whitecaps like the hunger, maturity in Canadian centre back returning from injury
Injuries to others gave Doneil Henry his big break.
And injuries nearly took it away. When Henry was a fresh-faced 19-year-old with Toronto FC in 2010 — the first homegrown player from that club’s academy system to make it to the senior team — then-coach Paul Mariner, whose team’s defence was gutted by injuries, threw him to the wolves and was impressed with what he saw.
So was Carl Robinson.
“I knew Doneil at Toronto … and one thing that stuck out to me was he was hungry; he was desperate to play,” said Robinson, who was co-captain of the Reds while Henry was captain of the residency team.
“And he made mistakes, of course — every player makes mistakes — but it didn’t affect him. He’d get back on the horse and he’d go again. He was tough, and as a young player, and you don’t really see that nowadays. That’s a tough mentality.”
Henry will be the first to say his game at the time was rash and unrefined, but the physical gifts in his 6-foot-3, 190-pound frame were undeniable. It led to him moving to Europe in 2015, first with West Ham United, where he played one game, then on loan to Blackburn Rovers, where a season-ending hamstring injury cut short that spell after just three games.
The Hammers loaned him out again the next season to Danish club AC Horsens, but in his second game he tore his ACL.
Three seasons, six games.
His future looked grim.
But the Whitecaps signed the defender in December, with an eye on getting the Canadian international with 22 caps match-fit and, perhaps, ready to take another crack at a European career.
“He’s had to deal with adversity. He’s nearly had his career taken away from him because he’s been injured for two years. And I like that because he’s got hunger in him — he’s got something to prove,” said Robinson. “So my point on it was to Doneil, come here and play. I’ll give you an opportunity to play. You need to be good enough if you’re going to play, and when you do … get to that level, I want to send you back to Europe.
“We have to be a club that is a stepping stone, unfortunately. Because we want to get the best young players. And maybe they’re not ready to move to the big club yet, maybe we can be the club in-between.”
Henry played 45 minutes in Thursday’s 1-0 win over Iwaki FC in the opener of the pre-season Pacific Rim Cup tournament in Honolulu. It was a tougher test than most expected from a team in the fifth tier of Japanese soccer, but a club that has beaten J1 teams. It was a fast-paced game on artificial turf, the perfect test for Henry’s first game action.
“It’s been a long time. An emotional roller-coaster, to say the least,” said the veteran centre back.
“To get back on the pitch, and get a clean sheet … and just to get through the game is a testimony of hard work and true commitment to get back here.
“I’m really thankful to be here playing the game I love.”
It had been 15 months since he last played a game, a span of time that weighed heavily on the Brampton, Ont., native. After knee surgery, he didn’t allow himself to even think about soccer. Once he had healed enough to start training lightly, he wouldn’t even think about getting back to the level he once played at.
So the game represented another victory in a mental battle he has been waging for more than a year.
“I’m pacing myself,” he said. “I’m going to give it 100 per cent, but I have to understand what my body can give me. Today was a true test, playing on the turf showed I have a solid knee graft. My knee is solid, it’s ready to perform and can take the work rate, and this high level of football.”
The Whitecaps play the winner of Friday night’s game between the Columbus Crew and Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo on Saturday in the championship game of the Pacific Rim tournament.
“I have a solid knee graft. My knee is solid, it’s ready to perform and can take the work rate, and this high level of football.” — DONEIL HENRY VANCOUVER WHITECAPS