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One of the most authorized voices for the French National team, a World Cup and European Championship winner Thierry Henry gave his two cents on Karim Benzema's exclusion from the Euros. Working as a pundit for the BBC just a few days from France's debut as host of the tournament, Thierry Henry said that he thinks Didier Deschamps has a plan that doesn't include Karim Benzema and relies more on the quality of very young players such as Paul Pogba, Kinsley Coman, Dimitri Payet and Anthony Martial.
Henry asked all of Deschamps' nay sayers to wait and see what the French National team is capable of before making any final judgements: “At some point, you have to take care of your own business instead of worrying about everyone else. For a long time, we struggled with not winning anything before the 1998 World Cup, and you guys had that on us for a long time. Then the concentration was on youth development and youngsters who might be able to do that for their country, to break through the barrier.
“We focused on ourselves – no disrespect to other countries – and you guys in England should do the same thing. Right now, we have a team – and it is a team. It is not just down to quality, or whether we have the best players in the world, it is about the togetherness you need to win a big tournament. The reality is that Benzema will not be there, but it will not affect what is at stake because France have been preparing for this a very long time and, whether you agree with it or not, they obviously have a plan.
“Listen, it was the same when Aime Jacquet did not take Eric Cantona to Euro 96. The first reaction of everyone was that Jacquet is mad. I used to love Cantona, and when he was not in the squad I was mystified, too. You guys were even more mystified, because the Euros were in England. I don’t know what Jacquet’s plan was at that moment, and whether you thought it was crazy or not, but it worked in his favor – and that is talking about Cantona, who we all loved. But he was not going to disturb what Jacquet wanted, and from what I hear, Benzema is not going to disrupt Deschamps’ plan.”
Photo credit: Equipe de France
