Arsenal's Thierry Henry (R) is given instructions as he goes onto the pitch by coach Arsene Wenger during their UEFA Champions League Group B soccer match against Sparta Prague at Sparta Stadium in Prague on Tuesday. - REUTERS
paris (ap)
FRANCE STRIKER THIERRY Henry wants to play against Costa Rica in Martinique. Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger definitely does not want him to.
But the 56-year-old Frenchman will not stand in Henry's way for the friendly on November 9, despite calling the match "scandalous" and "noxious."
Wenger is angry because the game on the French Caribbean island involves a 17-hour round trip. Three days later, France hosts Germany at Stade de France.
"They just do whatever they want, as usual," Wenger told sports daily L'Equipe yesterday, referring to the French soccer federation. "It's absolutely scandalous, inexplicable. But I expected nothing better. The clubs must be disgusted. You should see the state of the players when we get them back after an international."
Henry, who scored a club-record 186th goal for Arsenal against Sparta Prague on Tuesday after more than a month out with injury, wants to play in the game.
"It would be an immense pleasure to play in Martinique," Henry said. "I can't see myself missing this match. I've already been asked enough times why France has never played in the Caribbean."
Wenger feels France is repeating the errors of 2002, when it played friendlies in Australia and Chile and arrived at the World Cup with exhausted players.
"Ideally, the match should not go ahead," said Wenger. "It's noxious, not just for the clubs, but for the players. It is senseless. We are repeating the same mistakes we made in 2002. We saw the end result."
France coach Raymond Domenech says the match will help raise funds for the West Caribbean Airways plane crash in Venezuela on August 16, in which 152 of the 160 victims were residents of Martinique.
Wenger argues that stance is a convenient one to take.
"To practise humanity with other people's money is easy to do," Wenger said. "I'd like to see everyone in the French federation put their hand in their pocket. We'd soon see the outcome."
Do
you have a problem? Is something bothering
you? Write to