do you know this guy?
October 18th, 2006
during a recent preseason tour to europe, the philadelphia 76ers, the phoenix suns, cska moscow, and maccabi elite, all faced off in a sort of round-robin, “lets all play each other” type of set up. obviously all of the teams had practice during the week, and on october 3 in barcelona, allen iverson and thierry henry met.
looking at this photo i’m immediately struck with the thought, “does iverson know who he’s meeting?” i’m serious, does he have any idea? thierry henry is a fantastic footballer, absolutely world class. ronaldinho, wided regarded as the best footballer in the world, who has won the fifa player of the year award two years running and is on the short list to win this year, called him “the most technically skilled player in the world.” henry’s skills are unparalled in my opinion. his combination of pace, touch, accuracy, and grace is often times breathtaking. his touch in particular is eye catching. he moves the ball with grace and improvisation unlike any current player i’ve seen save ronaldinho. he scores goals, lots of them. his career totals are 364 matches played and 218 goals scored. and he sets up goals to the tune 73 in as many matches. compare those numbers to any other striker in the world and his consistent form and skill will be apparent. he looks like a gazelle when he runs. when he turns it on, it looks as if everyone else is running in mud.
does an american basketball player know who he’s meeting when he meets henry? i like iverson and i respect him for staying the same. say what you will about him, he’s not conformed to anything other than to what he knows himself to be. i’m not cracking on him, but i seriously doubt that he knows in the world of soccer, who he’s meeting or shaking hands with. i would say, sadly, that 80-90% of americans would not know henry from the guy at starbucks. it is sad that our culture is thoroughly unaware of what is going on in europe and abroad.
the meeting was most likely arranged by the folks at reebok. henry suddenly announced last spring, that he was leaving nike and signing with reebok. he had previously been the #2 guy in the mercurial vapor line behind ronaldo, who getting old fast. the mercurial line is designed to be light weight and ultra-fast, exactly like henry. he had begun having to share the marketing stage with the young christiano ronaldo of man united and young zlatan ibrahimovic, now with inter milan but previously of juventus. henry said he felt the ‘i am what i am’ campaign from reebok was more “him and who he is on and off the pitch,” so he signed with reebok. i don’t think it hurt things that he became “the guy” for reebok and their soccer line.
hery leaving nike was a big drag for me as i love nike’s gear and enjoyed buying nike soccer gear becasue i’d see henry rocking it on the pitch and in commercials like this one.
i’ve not spent money this season on arsenal or nike soccer gear. oh well, i’ll make it through somehow. if you get the chance, watch an arsenal match and watch #14 up front. its worth your time i assure you.