July 25, 2010 'NOWHERE NEAR BEING FIT' Henry on playing at Houston Saturday
Thierry Henry admits he is nowhere being fit as he looks towards Saturday's game at the Houston Dynamo Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images
By Michael Lewis
BigAppleSoccer.com Editor
HARRISON, N.J. -- Now its time to get serious.
Thierry Henry has less than a week from his MLS debut against the Houston Dynamo and the Red Bulls striker admits he is less than 100 percent.
"I'm nowhere near being fit, it's true," he said after the Red Bulls' 2-1 victory over Manchester City in the Barclays New York Challenge Sunday. "I don't even have a week of training. But I wanted to go out there ad try to play with the guys."
But it was hot and humid at Red Bull Arena on Sunday.
"To be honest, it wasn't easy today," he said. "I was a bit tired with some heavy legs, but it's kind of normal. I'm trying to work hard after the training session. We'll see how I'm going to feel before the Houston game.
"But I also want to take my time and maybe not rush into things. Sometimes you can get an injury because you want to come back quicker."
Henry gave his teammates a thumb's up for their performance.
"I was happy with the way we played because we played football," he said. "Passing the ball on the ground and trying to be calm. It was a good win for us and a good win for the MLS, but at the end of the day you also have to understand that this type of game, from a team that comes from Europe, it’s not always an easy game. I’m trying to adjust myself with the heat."
Henry added that he was impressed with Macoumba Kandji, who scored the first goal and set up the game-winner by Dane Richards.
"It’s easy to play with him [Kandji]," he said. "He can hold the ball well. He allows us to push higher up when he does it. Juan Pablo must have helped him. Mac can be very good for us. We are fortunate to have him and Juan Pablo [Angel]."
