Teammates played for my Golden Boot - Henry

Arsenal striker Thierry Henry has admitted his Gunners team-mates had specifically set him up to become England’s top scorer during the final match of the season against Everton.

The 24-year-old hitman, in Clairefontaine for pre-World Cup training with his France team-mates, scored 24 goals with Arsene Wenger’s men during this season’s double-winning campaign.

Two of those goals came in Arsenal’s 4-3 victory over Everton on May 11, making him the league’s top scorer by one goal from Manchester United’s Ruud van Nistelrooy, who failed to score in his team’s final match of the season.

‘‘At the start of the season I was not playing to become the Premier League’s top scorer,’’ Henry said today.

‘‘But it is true that against Everton the whole team played for me and did their best to help me reach that aim.

‘‘We had just won 13 games on a row, and it was important for me and the squad that I become the top scorer.’’

Henry is the leading light in a French squad which also boasts David Trezeguet, top goalscorer in Italy’s Serie A, and Djibril Cisse, who shared the top marksman award in the French league.