Thierry Henry admitted watching Manchester City win the Champions League made him want to make a comeback for the first time since he retired.
Arsenal legend Henry, 45, hung up his boots in 2014 after a glittering career and says he has never once watched a game and wished he was out there - until now. He was pitch side covering the Champions League final in Istanbul for US sports broadcaster CBS Sports.
There were emotional and jubilant scenes as Manchester City - led by Henry’s former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola - edged a 1-0 win over Inter Milan to complete a historic treble. Henry achieved the same feat with Guardiola at Barcelona in 2008/09 and his immediate reaction was that he wished he could return and be out there again.
“I don’t usually miss the field, I don’t usually look at the game and I’m like. ‘oh, I wish I was there’,” Henry said.
“This is the first time in my life, since I stopped playing football that I looked at a game, being at a game and I was like, ‘I wish I was celebrating’.”
Asked by host Kate Abdo “why this game?”, he replied: “Because it’s a treble. It’s not just like that, it’s a treble, it’s the second one for Pep Guardiola, you beat your rival in the semi-final fo the cup, you had to chase Arsenal the whole year.
“Listen, and the way they play. Yeah, people well tell me in the final, they obviously didn’t play that well, but it’s a treble, the status is in the title.
“The emotional power of the game, they were crying. It’s nice see guys sometimes let a bit go. Well done.”
At the full-time whistle, Henry branded Micah Richards’ reaction “beautiful” as he launched a powerful monologue about what the victory meant to Manchester City.
Richards said: “I can’t believe it, the scenes are absolutely incredible. This team mean absolutely everything.
“I’m so happy. Everything about this moment - the pressure, the pain, everyone saying that Man City can’t do it, everyone was questioning Pep but they turned up.
“Yes it wasn’t the best game we’ve all seen, but these scenes, these moments, you can cherish for life. The fans were a bit nervous before the game but just look what it means.
“Exceptional, exceptional scenes. I’m getting quite emotional talking about it. You see Kyle Walker over there, he’s got tears in his eyes.”
