Thierry Henry spoke at length about what it takes to be a successful athlete and why the U.S. men’s national team has the potential to produce elite talent on the latest episode of Kickin’ It, CBS Sports Golazo Network’s new weekly interview show. Henry explained why he went into coaching shortly after retiring as a player, which he described in part as a natural next step for him. The current France U21 coach, though, also said it also comes down to the way he prefers to enjoy the sport.
“Coaching is the closest to the game so the line is there, but I feel the need of explaining to people things,” he said. “It’s me. I need to … share, because educating sometimes can be seen as ‘You’re the teacher and you listen, you’re the student.’ I like to share. We’re on the same level. Let me help you. I just make people understand the game.”
He also believes in the potential of teams and players to make things work based on the resources they have available to them.
“You know when people ask you, ‘Do you see the glass half empty or half full?’ I see the f—ing glass,” he said. “There is a glass. Work with it. People are trying to find out if the water is half full or not, but you have a glass. Some people don’t have a f—–g glass. That’s how I see it. … If you have it, you have it.”
Henry also dismissed the notion that geography is at play when it comes to fostering elite soccer players, a conversation topic that has followed the USMNT for much of their recent history.
“That’s why I go back to the U.S. men’s national team. If you’re Texas or New Hampshire or wherever you’re from, doesn’t matter if you want it and you have that person that can guide,” he said. “When you look at some of the best athletes in the world, past, present, or whatever, there was always someone weird behind them, however weird you want to call it — tough, rough, pushing, not pushing, not accepting much. In history, dad or mom or something weird [gave] that guy an edge.”
Former USA star Clint Dempsey, one of the Kickin’ It co-hosts, said he resonated with Henry’s argument as someone who comes from the rural Texas town of Nacogdoches.
“You talk about being from a place,” Dempsey said. “[I] should’ve never made it in the sport. I’m from nowhere, really. I love where I’m from, Nacogdoches. I’m very prideful [of] where I come from, Texas. It’s a rural town not known for soccer. People always looked at you crazy for the sport you played, right? ‘Why aren’t you playing football, baseball, basketball?’ It’s just what I love to do and I wish I would’ve had someone like you that could help me more. I had great coaches. They could help me, but the coach that you had, something like that, what could I have really done? I did okay, you know what I’m saying … but I’m at peace.”
Dempsey also became emotional when talking about his sister, who died at a young age, and describes her as the person who pushed him to become one of the USMNT’s most notable alums.
“You say something made you, I’d say my sister who passed away,” he said. “It’s like, life is short. Make the most of it. For me, that’s with me and also [anger] … I had to forgive myself ’cause the last conversation I had with her was like, it was me asking to go to a friend’s house. I was like, ‘Is mom and dad there?’ She said no. I was like, ‘Okay, fine. Bye,’ instead of ‘I love you’ and all that kind of stuff. I had to forgive myself.”
The legendary USMNT goalscorer said he played with anger throughout his career but has found a way to recall fond memories with his sister, from watching her play tennis to copying each other’s dance moves. He also remembered the time the two of them discussed visiting each other in case one of them was to pass away.
“I was like, ‘If you ever passed away, maybe come back and help me score a goal,'” he said. “So you think about 2010, playing against England, probably had a little help there.”
Kickin’ It airs weekly on Wednesday nights on CBS Sports Golazo Network.