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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Jake Polden

Romelu Lukaku watched Thierry Henry embarrass a player so much he had to leave training

Thierry Henry is to some the greatest player to ever grace the Premier League.

The Arsenal legend lifted the World Cup and Champions League during his coveted career and remains the all-time leading goalscorer for the Gunners - a club with which he won two Premier League titles and three FA Cups.

After retiring from playing football, Henry began coaching Arsenal's youth teams before he joined the Belgium set-up and worked as second fiddle to boss Roberto Martinez.

During his first stint with Belgium's international set-up, Henry was coaching the strikers ahead of the 2018 World Cup and worked closely with Romelu Lukaku.

The striker remembered during a video interview with Henry for Puma's Instagram page in 2020 a moment from the training ground that summed up just how good a player the Arsenal legend was.

Despite having retired years earlier, Henry liked to get involved in the sessions and on one particular day, he got the better of an unnamed Belgian player - embarrassing him so much that he had to leave the field.

Lukaku said to Henry on the video call: "I think, in the national team when you were there, I think for us the strikers we had maybe the best time we could have ever had because the competition was there.

"Everyone played at a high level, thanks to you. We constantly wanted to do better, outdo each other. And even you were joining in the competition! That was the funny part. You may have been retired, but it was not visible at times."

Thierry Henry had two stints working as an assistant at Belgium (TF-Images/Getty Images)

Lukaku added: "I remember when my brother came and he was like you did this skill in training but I'm not going to say any names but the player left the pitch."

"No don't!" Henry replied.

Lukaku continued: "Jordan [his brother and teammate] came to me and he said, 'Rom! I've seen some s*** today! Damn!' He was like, 'Damn man, that s*** was crazy!'"

Henry left Belgium in 2018 and embarked on his own managerial career after taking charge of his former club Monaco.

The Frenchman lasted just one year at the helm in what was a disappointing first venture into management before he moved to Canada and took the top job at Montreal Impact.

Henry spent two seasons managing in the MLS and performed better as boss before he returned to London. He then rejoined Belgium for a second stint as an assistant and was on the coaching staff for the Qatar World Cup before parting company with them.

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