Henry’s struggles: ”I had depression during my career”

Thierry Henry (46) He is a former footballer who the entire football scene admired and praised at one point. More than his undoubted talent on the ball, which he showed especially in Arsenal and the French team, stands out for the elegance with which he did everything. Although soccer is played in sportswear, the ‘titi’ always seems clean and in a tuxedo.

However, behind the former player who achieved 19 titles, where the sextet included Barçathere is a difficult story of overcoming.

He grew up in a place full of conflicts. ”I grew up in a normal neighborhood. If you understand the normal for everything that comes with it. Thieves, weapons, fights, happiness, different foods, different religions, diversity, I always say that this is the best for me, to understand what the world is.”

The harsh divorce of his parents

Although it is becoming more common, separation from their parents is still difficult for children. This is how Henry, one of the gods of football, explains: ”They split up when I was seven, eight years old, so my father left my house, but he was there when I was training or playing, or came sometimes- sometimes occasionally, but technically I grew up with my mother. Even when they were together I did not see love, affection, hugs. When I was growing up, I didn’t know this. More growing in these types of neighborhoods. I have to try to be strong and not cry. I had a problem or a fight, I came home and when asked how the day was I had to say good.”

The relationship with his father

Henry, who always saw football as a dream, a mission and a goal, but not a passion, sometimes suffered to seek recognition from his father, whom he wanted to see happy, but it was difficult for him to find that conspiracy. A very graphic example is where after a match where they won 6-0 with six goals from them, his father was not happy.

”I knew whether my father was happy or not, I felt it. I felt whether he was happy or not, we reached the car, silence, should I speak? Shouldn’t I be the one to speak? I do not know. ‘So you’re happy’? And his response: of course, but you failed this control, this center, this, that, then I came to my mother’s house, I went up with my head down and my mother asked me if I lost and I said to we won 6-0 with my six goals and he looked at me.” Despite this, the Frenchman defended his father because: ”I can’t be mad at someone who tried to do the best and was educated with the tools they had, I don’t have the same tools, I have more and my kids will have more.

The consequences of his difficult life

”Throughout my career, I was depressed said the former French national team forward. To understand this you have to go back to when I was young. When I was young I never received love. When my father hugged me the first thing he said was: this baby is going to be an incredible soccer player. He shaped me, he was tough. I was always afraid and pressured to please others with my football and my money until one day my girlfriend and my children started crying about who I was. And then you feel human.

The former Arsenal striker explained that he hid his bad moments for fear of not being able to stand up to the general public and the media. “I lied for a long time because society was not ready to listen to what I had to say,” he explained. But I’ll be honest with you: throughout my career, I’ve probably gone through periods of depression. “I was the person in those moments.”