Henry a hat-trick from history

Thierry Henry is looking forward to the "amazing day" when he finally breaks the France goalscoring record held by Michel Platini.

Slovakia next
The FC Barcelona striker has long been just two goals away from the 41 achieved by the UEFA President during his glittering playing career with Les Bleus. Henry has not played for his country since the February fixture against Argentina, missing three UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifiers and another friendly in between. His 38th goal came in a friendly against Greece last November, leaving him a hat-trick away from taking the outright lead, and now, nine months on, Slovakia are next in his sights, provided he is selected for the match in Trnava on Wednesday.

Truth told
Speaking to uefa.com, Henry could not hide his desire to take such a personal accolade. "I won't lie," he said. "To be honest, it would mean something. To go ahead of somebody like Michel Platini... you can't ignore what he did for France and for European football." Michel Platini's finest hour for the national team was the 1984 UEFA European Championship, while he also took part in three FIFA World Cups. Alongside outstanding club achievements, it is clear that Michel Platini and his generation helped lay the trail for France's successes a decade or so later.

'Important thing'
"The respect that everybody in France has for Michel Platini is amazing," added Henry. "For me to be already there with somebody like that is enough. The most important thing I would like to say is to win stuff as a team and thankfully I have had a chance with the national team to win all you can win. I will maybe appreciate the individual stuff a bit more when I retire but I won’t lie that if I do beat the record of Michel Platini, one that he actually did way quicker than me, it would be an amazing day."

Fontaine feat
Michel Platini achieved his haul from just 72 matches, while Henry has struck 39 goals from 92 games. In truth, neither man can claim the best goals-to-game record for France with Just Fontaine's 30 strikes in 21 matches during the 1950s setting the standard for all to follow. Indeed Fontaine, who turned 74 last Saturday, also still holds the individual World Cup record, having scored 13 goals at the 1958 finals. Should Henry beat Michel Platini's mark, there clearly remains plenty for him to aim at.