Henry given first job as head coach, appointed by struggling Ligue 1 club Monaco
>> MONACO: Former Arsenal star Thierry Henry was yesterday 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 three-year contract with Monaco through until June 2021.
The former striker will be joined by Joao Carlos Valado Tralhao, under23 coach at Benfica, and Patrick Kwame Ampadu, coach at the Arsenal Academy.
Henry replaced Leonardo Jardim, who was sacked in midweek.
Henry knows Monaco well having graduated from their youth system and making his professional debut for the Principality club in 1994.
He notably scored seven goals in the 1997-8 Champions League as the Monaco team of the time, then coached by Arsene Wenger, reached the semi-finals, where they lost to Juventus.
“First of all, I thank AS 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 AS Monaco and extremely determined to meet the challenges ahead. I cannot wait to meet the players to start working together.”
After spending five seasons as a player with Monaco, Henry went on to play for Juventus, Arsenal, Barcelona and the New York Red Bulls.
Meanwhile, Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku struck twice as Belgium maintained their strong start to the Nations League with a battling 2-1 win over Switzerland.
When Lukaku found the net with an angled drive on 58 minutes, it looked like Roberto Martinez’s men would be giving 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.
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.