Henry joins Belgium as No 2 to Martinez
THIERRY HENRY has made a surprise return to coaching as an assistant to new Belgium manager Roberto Martinez.
The former Arsenal striker had been working with the Gunners’ academy but left the club last month after Sportsmail revealed that manager Arsene Wenger had told Henry he could only continue in the job if he relinquished his role as a pundit for Sky Sports.
Henry — who won the World Cup in 1998 and Euro 2000 with France — will now join a backroom team which includes Graeme Jones, Martinez’s assistant at Swansea, Wigan and Everton.
Martinez said: ‘Thierry brings something completely different. He’s someone who has been in the situation of having to develop a mentality in a team of chasing the dream of winning something special for his country.
‘He is very much an important figure in our staff in terms of being able to pass on his experience.’
Henry won 123 caps for France, scoring 51 goals, and is Arsenal’s record scorer with 228 goals. Martinez confirmed the 39-yearold will have a ‘big role’ in helping Belgium’s forwards.
‘The attacking quality that we have is rich,’ added Martinez. ‘Thierry Henry’s experience is going to be very important. Then when you go into the basics of simple attacking drills, as a player you can get a lot from it.’
Martinez replaced Marc Wilmots after Euro 2016 and his first game will be a friendly against Spain on Thursday. Chelsea’s Eden Hazard and Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne are among the star names included in his first squad, which was announced yesterday.