Thierry Henry pretended to storm out of an interview with his former Arsenal team-mate Robert Pires live on CBS Sports. The former Gunners winger was a guest on the broadcaster’s coverage of Arsenal’s thumping 3-0 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday night, but he didn’t initially get a warm welcome from Henry.
Declan Rice’s stunning two free-kicks and Mikel Merino’s neat finish were the major talking points at the Emirates Stadium. Yet before kick-off, Pires was there to reflect on the good times of old for the club alongside his compatriot and former team-mate.
The two were more than happy to reminisce about the good times until the conversation turned to an infamous mistake they were both involved in. With both there, presenter Anita Jones took the opportunity to quiz Pires on the botched penalty against Manchester City in 2005, when Pires was supposed to pass to Henry from the spot.
At the mere mention of the incident, Henry rolled his eyes and said “Wait, I’m going to leave you alone because he messed it up” and walked off camera. His reaction prompted shock and then jeers from Jamie Carragher and Micah Richards, who were watching back in the studio.
“Errr, it was my fault. It was my mistake, yeah. I don’t know what happened to my mind,” Pires admitted before Henry returned to the screen to add: “The penalty had to be retaken.” Pires responded: “Exactly. The referee – he didn’t know about these rules. So I know, I repeat, it was my mistake.” Carragher then interjected: “Thierry, whose idea was it originally in training to come up with the penalty?”
Pires said: “It was Thierry’s idea.” Henry added: “You know, I’m a thinker, I study the game. I know these things – it’s going to have to be me. I didn’t make the mistake.” Pires: “It’s my fault, it’s my fault, Jamie.” Carragher then quipped: “It’s always somebody else’s fault with Thierry, Robert, we’ve learnt that over the years!”
After joking around about the botched penalty, Henry then changed the tone to pay tribute to Pires, who contributed 84 goals and 63 assists in 284 games for Arsenal between 2000 and 2006 and was a part of the famous Invincibles side, who went the 2003/04 Premier League campaign undefeated.
“Joking aside, I need to say something about this man,” Henry said. “We’ve been joking and laughing but this man was a special player. Playing alongside him at Arsenal and the national team was brilliant.
“There’s one thing that you guys know, in training if you are with Robert Pires you will never lose a game. The application that he had every time in training and the technique that he had, Robert could still play football now – only the field is a bit too big.”
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