Thierry Henry takes over the French national team. He has a big challenge ahead of him at the Paris Olympics

Thierry Henry has accepted the offer to lead the French U21 national team from now until 2025, preparing for two major tournaments, with the biggest challenge being the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

The former outstanding striker can already be considered an experienced coach. On the other hand, he has confirmed a well-known rule that not every excellent footballer makes an equally good coach.

Not that the 46-year-old Frenchman doesn’t try to be. He spent a long time preparing for it with the Belgian national team in the role of assistant to Roberto Martínez. Together they led a golden generation of Belgians and even though they didn’t win any trophies, they can be considered successful.

Third place from the 2018 World Cup, where Eden Hazard and co. won all but the semi-final against France, which they lost 1: 0. They then managed to beat England in the bronze medal match.

However, his first major engagement in Monaco was a complete failure. He didn’t last long in the Canadian team Montreal either, so he eventually returned to the same position under the wing of Martínez.

Now, Henry will once again try to restart his career with his country’s national team, specifically the U-21 players. Moreover, they are now facing two major tournaments.

Next year, the Olympic Games will be held in France and Henry will try to win a gold medal for his nation. The last time the French won the Olympics was in 1984 in Los Angeles. The last two gold medals were won by the Brazilians.

Next year, then, will be the Euro U21, so Henry and co. have qualifying matches in which to prepare for both major tournaments.

Whether he will be successful remains to be seen, but France have traditionally had very capable youngsters, of whom they can consistently produce a large number. If Henry manages to put promising talents together into a workable team, they can celebrate big wins.

Source: LOH 2024, Twitter