Henry: Forget Zidane, focus on future
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-09-07 05:44

France's Arsenal attacker Thierry Henry on Sunday urged his teammates and fans to forget about retired stars like Zinedine Zidane and concentrate on the future.

Henry was speaking 24 hours after France's stuttering first step on the road to qualifying for the 2006 World Cup - a goalless draw against Israel on home turf at the Stade de France.

The 1998 world champions struggled in their first competitive match since key players like Zidane, Marcel Desailly, Bixente Lizarazu and Lilian Thuram stepped back from the international spotlight to concentrate on their club careers.

Henry said: "It's true they're missed but we have to start again and go forward. One generation has passed, people have to get that into their heads.

"Now there are players who need to take a step up the ladder to gain promotion. It's not easy, I had to do that.

"But we can't talk about the retired players each time - if we do that we'd still be saying that we missed (Michel) Platini too."

Henry expressed concern that coach Raymond Domenech may not have the time he needs to rebuild a team from the ashes of their failed Euro 2004 campaign.

"Tactically we have to adjust to the 3-5-2 system, not many of us play with this system at club level.

"It doesn't just come like that. But the problem is we don't have the time - we've already lost two points."

Reflecting on Saturday's first night nerves Henry added: "No one was happy wth the result, far from it. We should have scored, but we couldn't get the win."

France, who face the Faroe Islands on Wednesday, are placed third behind Switzerland and the Republic of Ireland in Group Four.