Arsenal and Monaco's familiar faces
Sunday, February 15, 2015
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Arsène Wenger and Thierry Henry are just two of the great names to have represented both AS Monaco FC and Arsenal FC. Andrew Murphy looks at the rivals' shared history.
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Arsenal FC and AS Monaco FC share more than red and white colours, with a number of names representing both of the last-16 rivals over the last couple of decades. Andrew Murphy explores the ties that bind the two.
Arsène Wenger
As coach of Monaco from 1987 to 1994, Wenger transformed the club. "When I arrived there," he said. "Monaco had never passed the first round of the European Cup. We went to the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup and the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League. These are big memories – previously it was a club who barely existed in Europe." He coached for a year in Japan before turning Arsenal into one of Europe's best-known clubs, taking them to the 2006 UEFA Champions League final.
Thierry Henry
Wenger gave Henry his debut at Monaco in 1994 and signed him from Juventus for Arsenal. As a winger, he helped Monaco to a UEFA Champions League semi-final in 1998 and France to the FIFA World Cup in the same year. Transformed into a striker at Arsenal, he won two Premier League titles and appeared in the 2006 UEFA Champions League final. The Gunners' all-time top marksman with 228 goals – 50 of them in this competition – he has a bronze statue outside Arsenal's stadium.
Emmanuel Petit
Spending nine years at Monaco, Petit left in summer 1997 after the principality side's first Ligue 1 championship in nine years. A deep-lying midfielder, he claimed the double in his first campaign with Arsenal. He formed an exceptional partnership with Patrick Vieira, who put Petit through to net France's third goal in the 1998 World Cup final against Brazil. The duo also won UEFA EURO 2000 with Les Bleus.
Emmanuel Adebayor
A season and a half after starring in the Rouge et Blanc team that contested the 2004 UEFA Champions League final, the tall Togolese international was scoring goals for the north Londoner outfit. Adebayor's strikes against Tottenham Hotspur FC and Newcastle United FC were voted among Arsenal's finest 50 goals.
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