Henry Headed to MLS?

• New York Times, Tuesday, August 4, 2009 4:15 PM

Amid all the hype and hysteria surrounding this summer's FC Barcelona tour, amid the countless fans screaming for Lionel Messi, amid the persistent journalists pleading for a few words from new addition Zlatan Ibrahimovic, is a lesser-known story about a certain French forward named Thierry Henry who is quite keen on playing in MLS. And soon.

"I think there are a handful of players that can really raise the awareness and popularity of the sport in the country. Thierry is certainly one of them," gushed MLS Commisioner Don Garber from Seattle, where the Sounders will meet 2009 Spanish treble champions in front of 67,000 fans at Qwest Field. "He gets what it's going to take to build soccer in America, and he appears to be very interested in being part of that process."

A big fan of America and especially American sports culture, Henry suggests that for soccer to succeed in the U.S., "What you need is history. When you talk about baseball you talk about Babe Ruth, when you talk about basketball you talk about Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Pistol Pete Maravich. You grew up having a history and idolizing someone."

Garber and MLS aren't the only ones hoping that he could be one of those American idols in the near future, as Henry himself admitted, "It's a wish, and I hope that one day it can be done. But I'm enjoying my time in Barcelona, I absolutely love it, but I wish that one day, it can be possible."

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