Thierry Henry Kicks the Ball Around in Chinatown and Teases MLS Fans

By: Laurie | June 27th, 2008

How is Thierry Henry getting over France’s early exit from Euro 2008?

By coming to New York and kicking the ball around in a friendly 8-on-8 charity benefit with the likes of Claudio Reyna, Steve Nash and Jozy Altidore. And by teasing MLS fans with tantalizing comments like this, about coming to play in MLS:

“Why not?” he said Wednesday night following a charity soccer match. “I love America. I love it here. And whenever I come here, I feel free. Hopefully, one day. You never know what’s going to happen. But at the moment, I’m still over there.”

I wouldn’t wait too long, Titi. We saw Euros. Just sayin’.

The game was played to benefit charities run by Steve Nash and Claudio Reyna. And how did it end? Team Nash, with Henry, beat team Reyna, either 9-4 or 6-4. Nobody’s really sure. (Did we mention that this was a friendly?)

Reyna hopes to get Argentina’s Lionel Messi for next year’s charity event. Reyna used the match as part of his rehabilitation from a back injury, and noted the level of play was not too fierce.

“A few of the boys were out late last night,” he said. “You knew that was going to happen.”

A good eye-witness game report is here, including this little tidbit: