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| Thierry Henry |
Some football fans in Lafia say they foresee Thierry
Henry, a French national and assistant coach of
Belgian National Football team team, finding
himself in a dilemma as France and Belgium lock
horns Tuesday in one of the semi final encounters
in the ongoing FIFA World Cup competition in
Russia.
They expressed their feelings in separate interviews
with Newsmen in Lafia,Henry is a retired French footballer who was part of victorious french team that won the World cup
tournament in 1998.
One of the fans, Olukunmi Gideon, told Newsmen
that Henry’s situation was quite ‘dicey’ as he has a
difficult decision to make on which team to support
during the encounter because of his affiliation to
both sides.
Gideon said Henry’s best bet is to remain neutral
and focus on his job as assistant coach, but added
that pretending to be emotionless would be difficult
for the former football great.
“He will suffer emotionally; nobody prays to be in
this kind of situation; he wont want to be seen
supporting Belgium against his home country and he
cannot be with Belgium and be openly supporting
France.
“Its a dicey one for him and I pity him; it is going to
be 90 minutes of hell for him. If France wins, he
cannot celebrate; it is the same if Belgium wins.
This is not just any match; it is the semi finals of a
world cup competition, where footballing countries
dream of playing in. I pity him,” he said.
Aliyu Danbaba, another football fan, wished if it
were possible for Henry to stay away from the
venue of the match and watch it in privacy, where
he would be free to express his emotions, instead of
hiding his true feelings out of respect for both
countries.
“For me, Roberto Martinez, the head coach of
Belgium, should allow Henry to stay somewhere else
and watch it alone because it wont be easy for him.
“If Belgium scores and eventually win, will he
(Henry) sit and not join the celebration? lets be
practical here. He is a human with emotion,” he
said.
One his part, John Akpana suggested that the
organisers of the World Cup, Federation de
International Football Association (FIFA), should
limit focus on Henry during the encounter.
He also urged both teams and nationals of both
countries, to show understanding for Henry’s
precarious situation, adding that doing so will make
Henry a little bit relaxed and comfortable
the match.
“Everybody must understand that it is not Henry’s
making that his home country and the team he
currently works for, should meet at any point in this
tournament, so everyone must be sensitive and show
understanding,” he said. (NAN)
