Arsenal and France football legend Thierry Henry retires

Tuesday, December 16, 2014 | 10:07 AM    

PARIS, France (AFP) – Former Arsenal and French striker Thierry Henry announced Tuesday he was retiring from football after a glittering two decades long career and will become a TV analyst for Sky Sports in England.

“After 20 years in the game I have decided to retire from professional football,” Henry said in a statement on his Facebook page.

Henry, 37, a world and European champion with France, and the scorer of 228 goals with Arsenal including 175 English Premier League goals for the club, finished his playing career at New York Red Bulls just days ago.

“It is now time for a different career path and I am pleased to say that I will be returning to London and joining Sky Sports,” he said.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said recently that Henry will “certainly” return to the club in some capacity in the future.

Henry, who has a daughter based in England, himself said in recent weeks that he wants to help Arsenal win the Champions League.

Henry first made his mark at French club Monaco before moving to Italian giants Juventus.

But the bulk of his career was spent at Arsenal under Wenger, who brought him to north London in 1999.

He was a crucial part of the 2003-2004 “Invincibles” team alongside fellow Frenchman Patrick Vieira, which went unbeaten as it stormed to the Premier League title.

In England, Henry won the Premier League twice and the FA Cup three times.

Henry left England for Barcelona in 2007, spending three years with the Spanish giants with whom he won the Champions League trophy in 2009.

He finished his career in the United States, playing for the New York Red Bulls in the MLS, but returned to Arsenal for four matches on loan from the Red Bulls in 2012, coming on as a substitute to score the winner against Leeds in the third round of the FA Cup.

He could not however prevent the Red Bulls being eliminated in the semi-finals of the playoffs this season.

Henry will also be remembered for a blatant handball in a 2009 World Cup qualifying playoff against the Republic of Ireland which led to the decisive goal for France and a ticket to the 2010 finals.

His last international game was during the 2010 World Cup when he came on as a second-half substitute in a 2-1 loss to hosts South Africa as France were dumped out of a tournament which had been a fiasco for the 1998 World Cup winners.

Capped 123 times for France, he scored a national record 51 goals during his international career which began with a 2-1 win over South Africa in October 1997.

Tributes poured in for Henry, who scored 411 goals during his career, with French professional football league president Frederic Thiriez describing him as a “legend”.

“The English erected a statue to him but in France he did not always get the recognition he deserved,” said Thiriez of the statute dedicated to Henry at the Emirates Stadium.

“With his extraordinary track record and his record of goals for the national side, Thierry Henry nevertheless will remain a legend, he was an exceptional striker. Simply the best.”

Former England international Gary Lineker, now a broadcaster, tweeted: “Congratulations to @ThierryHentry on a truly wonderful career. One of the great footballers of our time and a top bloke. Bonne chance.”

Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey also tweeted: “Congratulations on an outstanding career @ThierryHenry. Top player. Top guy. #Legend,” while England and Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge, added: “Happy retirement to my hero and idol @ThierryHenry. Wish you all the best in the next chapter.”

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Arsenal and France football legend Thierry Henry retires

Brazilian legend Ronaldo promises great things for Ft Lauderdale Strikers

MIAMI, Florida (AFP) — Brazilian football legend Ronaldo is promising great things for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers after becoming part owner of the North American Soccer League club.

“I will be very involved with the management of the team and have already started to make introductions that will certainly help us to turn the Strikers into a global powerhouse,” Ronaldo said in a statement last week, when his ownership stake was announced.

“There are no doubts the beautiful game is growing exponentially in the United States, and I guarantee you that the NASL will play a key role in the rise of professional soccer here.”

The NASL, now a second-tier league behind Major League Soccer, enjoyed its heyday in the 1970s, when such global icons as Pele, Franz Beckenbauer, George Best and Giorgio Chinaglia were lured Stateside to spread the gospel of soccer.

A match between the Strikers and the New York Cosmos drew a crowd of 77,691, and the Cosmos last year launched their own reincarnation with a 2-1 win over the Strikers in a match attended by a host of the Cosmos’ 1970s stars.

In October, the Cosmos announced the signing of Real Madrid legend Raul, but it remains to be seen just how much celebrity ownership and the presence of brilliant, if aging, names on the squads will boost the NASL’s influence.

In New York, the re-booted Cosmos will compete for fans with MLS’s New York Red Bulls and a new MLS rival owned by English Premier League side Manchester City and baseball’s New York Yankees.

The Strikers could eventually face MLS competition in South Florida as well, although England icon David Beckham is still trying to get his planned Miami MLS club off the ground.

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Brazilian legend Ronaldo promises great things for Ft Lauderdale Strikers

Legend album jumps from 100 to #5 on chart

CURTIS CAMPBELL, STAR Writer

Reggae band Bob Marley and the Wailers has finally hit the top ten of the Billboard chart, with their highest-selling album, Legend. The Marleys are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the album this year, and recently announced that internationally renowned ice-cream company Ben & Jerry would be releasing a special flavour of their product, in respect of the Legend album.

According to Billboard.com which says the album sold 41,000 copies in the week ending September 7, the sales of the album skyrocketed, due to a cost reduction.

“The set’s big gain is owed to the Google Play store discounting the title to 99-cents during the tracking week. The digital album normally sells for around $8,” stated Billboard’s website.

The price discount resulted in the album jumping from number 100 on the Billboard chart to number five which is now a record for the legendary band and Bob Marley.

Legend was released in 1984 by Island Records and is the best selling reggae album of all time, with more than 13 million copies sold in the United States and approximately 25 million copies sold globally.

The album was also ranked number 46 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. As of August 2014, it has spent a total of 290 non-consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200 chart.

Will Smith in his hit movie I Am Legend described the Legend album as the best ever.

“He (Bob Marley) had this idea. Kind of a virologist idea. He believed that you can cure racism and hate; literally cure it, by injecting music and love into people’s lives. When he was scheduled to perform at a peace rally, a gunman came to his house and shot him down. Two days later, he walked onstage and sang. Somebody asked him, “Why?” He said, ‘The people who are trying to make the world worse are not taking a day off. How can I?”, Smith relayed to a fellow actor.

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Legend album jumps from 100 to #5 on chart