Henry acknowledges Irish threat

France striker Thierry Henry believes the Republic of Ireland pose a real threat to his nation’s hopes of reaching the World Cup finals.

For the second successive match at the Stade de France, new coach Raymond Domenech saw his team held to a goalless Group Four draw, initially by Israel, and then last night by Ireland.

It is clear France are no longer the fearful team that swept all before them in winning the World Cup in 1998 on home soil, and then the European Championships two years later.

They may have boasted an unblemished record in qualifying for Euro 2004, but since the finals in Portugal in the summer, France have lost their way.

The retirement of key players like Zinedine Zidane has undoubtedly weakened the squad, while Domenech is still struggling to find the right personnel, organisation and tactics to carry France forward.

Henry recognises this and feels Brian Kerr’s team are dangerous having witnessed first-hand characteristics in the Irish squad.

When asked whether Ireland were France’s strongest rivals in the group, the Arsenal striker replied: “It is difficult to say because Israel did the same to us.

“The group is open, but going forward Ireland are the best team I have seen so far and they definitely showed they have quality.”

Although Switzerland, Ireland, France and Israel all have five points from three games, it is the Republic who would appear to have made the best start bearing in mind their away results against the Swiss and French.

As far as Henry is concerned, and drawing on his experiences with Arsenal last season, it is not that simple.

“You have some teams playing better away from home and some teams playing better at home,” added Henry.

“There are so many strange things happening in football. Look at us in the Champions League last season.

“Everyone said to us that after one point from three games we were out, yet we finished top of the group.

“I know this is a different thing, but things happen in football that you can never predict.

“That’s why we all like football because if it was always the same then it would be boring.

“Ireland will probably think they can win the group, but everyone can think that, like Israel after they also drew here.

“Maybe when Ireland drew in Switzerland they felt the same then. It’s a pretty tight group and we will see, but Ireland are a very good team.”

France certainly need Henry, among others, to start producing as their only victory was an uninspiring 2-0 triumph over the Faroe Islands.

Domenech’s squad face another nation in Cyprus on Wednesday that on paper they should comfortably defeat, but after several shock results at the weekend - Portugal and Holland drawing at Liechtenstein and Macedonia respectively - nothing is certain.

Henry, though, is unconcerned by his own form which has seen him score just two goals in his last 11 international appearances, and that of France overall.

“To be honest, it wasn’t disappointing not to score, and at the end of the day we tried,” explained Henry.

“We are rebuilding a team at the moment because a lot of players chose to stop playing.

“We’ve since played three games and if you look at the squads they have not been the same.

“You need to know your team-mates better to reach a certain point, and you can sense that in the Ireland squad, that they’ve been playing together for a long time.

“We are slowly getting there and at the end of the day we didn’t lose, and we are still there after looking at the other results with all the other teams also drawing.”