Arsenal hero embarrassed a player so much he had to leave training - 'That was crazy'

An Arsenal icon refused to go easy on a player in training

Thierry Henry once left Romelu Lukaku in awe after embarrassing a Belgium national team player with a skill during training. The Arsenal hero was Roberto Martinez’s assistant coach with Belgium from 2016 to 2018, before returning in 2021 to offer his expertise for the 2022 World Cup.

Henry, widely seen as both Arsenal and the Premier League’s greatest ever player, worked closely with Belgium’s golden generation of forwards, including former Manchester United and Chelsea striker Lukaku. The Gunners icon was the perfect mentor, aside from when his effortless skill showed he was still far superior to top level players, shattering their confidence.

That was evident in a video call between Henry and Lukaku on Puma’s Instagram page during the Covid-19 pandemic, where the latter recalled a moment when the World Cup winner proved too good for one of his Belgium team-mates.

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Lukaku said to his former coach: "I think, in the national team when you were there, I think for us the strikers we had maybe the best time we could ever had, because the competition was there.

"Everyone played at a high level, thanks to you. We constantly wanted to do better, outdo each other. And even you were joining in the competition! That was the funny part. You may have been retired, but it was not visible at times."

Henry admitted he sometimes couldn’t help but show off his talents. They clearly had not waned during retirement if Lukaku’s story about a particular training session was anything to go by, given he humiliated an unnamed player to the point he had to leave the pitch.

Lukaku, now at Napoli, recalled: "I remember when my brother came and he was like you did this skill in training, I’m not going to say any names, but the player left the pitch.

"No, don't!" Henry replied, as Lukaku continued: "Jordan [his brother and team-mate] came to me and he said, 'Rom! I’ve seen some s*** today! Damn!' He was like, 'Damn man, that s*** was crazy!'" Henry then burst into laughter at Lukaku's recollection of the exchange.

The Frenchman continued to assist Martinez and helped Belgium reach the World Cup semi-finals, where they were beaten by eventual winners France. He left his Belgium role shortly after the tournament.

After a dismal spell at Monaco, where he was sacked, Henry took charge of MLS side Montreal Impact. He took the franchise to its first playoff appearance in several years, before stepping down in 2021 to be closer to his children in London.

Henry’s last managerial role came when he was appointed to lead France’s U23s at the home Olympic Games. He took Les Bleus to the final at the Paris 2024 Games, winning the silver medal after a 5-3 defeat to Spain in extra time.