He’s the right man
Belgium boss Martinez backs Henry ‘to be great coach’ at Monaco
BRussels: Belgium boss Roberto Martinez backed his right-hand man Thierry Henry to become “a great coach” when the French World Cup winner takes over at Monaco.
Yesterday, former Arsenal star Henry was named as Monaco coach, the struggling Ligue 1 club announced.
The 41-year-old French World Cup winner, who had been working as an assistant coach for the Belgian national team since 2016, signed a contract with Monaco until June 2021.
The former striker will be joined by Joao Carlos Valado Tralhao, Under-23 coach at Benfica, and Patrick Kwame Ampadu, coach at the Arsenal Academy.
“First of all, I thank Monaco for giving me the opportunity to coach the team of this club which is so special to me,” Henry said.
”I am very happy to come back to Monaco and extremely determined to meet the challenges ahead. I can not wait to meet the players to start working together.”
After Belgium beat the Swiss 2-1 on Friday, Martinez said he was unaware of the reports that Henry was about to leave his role as assistant coach with the national team.
“Thierry Henry’s leaving? You must be better informed than me. I can’t confirm this news but we all know he will leave us one day,” said Martinez.
“Whether it’s Saturday, a week or six months away, we are prepared for it. Thierry has brought all his experience and when he leaves, he will have all our support.
“Thierry has the potential to become a great coach, which he will certainly quickly become.”
Meanwhile, Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku struck twice as Belgium maintained their strong start to the Nations League with a battling win over Switzerland.
When Lukaku found the net with an angled drive on 58 minutes, it looked like Martinez’s men would be giving Thierry Henry a winning send-off in his final match.
The World Cup semi-finalists took their eye off the ball on 76 minutes, and the King Baudoin Stadium was stunned when Mario Gavranovic poked the ball past Thibaut Courtois from close range in after the Real Madrid goalkeeper had been drawn by Nico Elvedi heading Xherdan Shaqiri’s floated cross back into play.
But in a busy final period that saw the hosts turn the throttle Lukaku had his second six minutes from time.
Belgium’s second win of the fledgling tournament keeps them flying high in League A Group 2 following an opening 3-0 win in Iceland.
Fresh from their own 6-0 win over Iceland, Switzerland gave Belgium a run for their money in a fairly balanced opening half in which the hosts mainly flattered to deceive.