This on top of what he did against Real Madrid in the Bernabeu (game-winner for the first English team to ever win in Madrid) Juventus in the Champions League quarters, the hat trick against Roma (0-1 down to 3-1 up) that night in the San Siro against Inter (0-3 down to 6-4 up), or any and all of his huge goals over the years against ManUtd (gamewinner) Chel$ea, Liverpool (0-1 down to 2-1 up, and saved the undefeated season) and Tottenham (any North London derby is a huge match) Hotspur (the goal that penultimately put Arsenal into this year's Champions League). Don't tell me or him that any of those aren't big games.
He is the all time leading scorer in Arsenal history with 214 goals in 342 appearances and counting, and he is currently the 2nd all time scorer for France with 36 goals in 83 appearances and counting for Les Bleus, and will surely pass Platini's 41 soon enough.
So to all the haters out there, I simply say: "Kindly shut the fuck up. Your longtime ridiculous line of argument is no longer supportable. Go find someone else to pick on about not playing big in big games. You might want to look at Ronaldinho, Michael Ballack, or Frank Lampard for starters. Thank you and good day. I said good day!"
QEDMF.
4 comments:
I could have scored that goal Henry scored on Saturday. It's not hard to put foot to ball four meters out when unmarked and chasing a perfectly struck free kick. Henry's CL performance this year shows that he can score big goals, but riding on Zidane's coattails on Saturday does not.
And don't try to go there on Ronaldinho. Off the top of my head:
1. Assisted the winning goal at the San Siro in the CL semifinal against Milan.
2. Assisted what should have been the opening goal in the CL final against Arsenal.
3. Scored the winner in the CL quarterfinal against Benfica.
4. Scored the nail in the coffin goal against Chelsea in the second leg this year. Assisted John Terry for the goal at Stamford Bridge. And don't make me get Youtube out to remind you of his epic goal at Stamford Bridge in '05 that would have been the winner if not for Terry's header in the second half (aided by interference with Valdes by Carvalho).
5. Got a standing ovation from the Bernabeu crowd for his performance against Real Madrid this year. It's not quite beating Spurs in the North London derby, but it's not bad.
And I'm going to defend Ballack, as well. He scored the goals that won Germany the WC quarters and semis in '02 and then Germany wilted without him in the final. He assisted the equalizer on Friday and then nailed a penalty despite being completely out of gas.
Other than Lampard, you picked the wrong guys to attack for never having scored big goals.
Michael, I think that was more or less Kanu's point, that attacking Henry for never scoring big goals makes about as much sense as attacking Ronaldinho or Ballack. You can go through catalogues of "big games" where they didn't perform, but it doesn't mean they aren't performers on the big stage.
That said, just as Henry had to deal with the consequences of a poor WC2002 and Euro2004, Ronaldinho will now have to deal with not performing this WC. He'll over come it because it's a dubious label, but still one he has to deal with.
Kanu can defend the statements of Kanu, but for me that TH12 goal on Saturday was NOT an easy finish. Anytime you've got to hit a ball past a keeper with your first touch across your body from a 45-yard volley, it is going to take some skill--and it doesn't matter how perfect the cross is.
As for Ronaldhino, the man has always struck me as more hype than anything. He's a great player, but he reminds me a bit of an early Jordan--everyone is so wowed by his highlights that they operate under the assumption that he turns it on all the time--and then, when he doesn't dominate every match, he's considered disappointing. It's certainly unfair, and I think all the great players suffer from the comparison to their highlights to some extent--and no one in the modern game suffers more in this regard than R10, because his highlight reel is amazing.
R10 also suffers from his perceived status as the best player in the world. I saw an article in a footie magazine last month that asked, "Is Ronaldhino the best player ever?" This claim is comical--I can't remember Pele, Cruyff, or Di Stefano, but I've seen enough to know that he's not even close to Maradona--but, of course, they aren't asking that question of (and, placing the expectations on) any other modern player.
Michael,
1) Could you have? If you could have then you are better than me. I am not saying that was the most difficult goal to score, but on the other hand there I think TH12 made it look much easier than it was. Jumping up into the air before receiving a 30 yard cross, then controlling a 1 time volley (vertically) between Dida's bosy and the crossbar, placing it perfectly in the roof of the net, without hitting it at Dida, hitting it over the bar, or mishitting the ball and shanking it to the right or left, from a funky angle, makes it far from an easy goal. I don't think I could have scored it, at least not the way that he did. I probably would have stayrd on my feet and tried to volley it the traditional way, and it is highly probable that I would have shanked it as som many players tend to do with one time volleys from long passes.
2) See Moin's comments - I was being cheeky there at the end. But I think that I succeeded in the post to prove beyond any reasonable doubt the point that I was trying to make.
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