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The Arsenal legend was unhappy with the slim pickings for his France U-23 squad ahead of the Olympic Games
France U-23 coach Thierry Henry has bemoaned the decision of foreign clubs to deny their players a chance to play at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Henry and France’s Mbappe hopes dashed
Despite clearly stating that they would want to have players like Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud in their squad for the Olympics on home soil, France were forced to name their squad without many of the key names, especially their preferred overaged players.
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Mbappe and Giroud as well as other stars like Antoine Griezmann were refused participation in the Olympic games by their clubs since the tournament is not officially recognised in FIFA’s calendar and could clash with pre-season club activities.
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Players like Mbappe, who will be moving to a new club will need the pre-season period to adapt to their new surroundings and can not afford to play both the 2024 European Championships and Olympics, but their absence from the latter has still caused some frustration for U-23 head coach Henry.
Henry laments stars’ absence
Speaking at the unveiling of France’s squad for the Olympics, Henry rued the absence of some of the star players who would have been expected to appear on the list, saying, “The players you don’t see are because their clubs said ‘no’. There’s no discussion: you come, you ask, they say ‘no’, and you leave. The last time I faced so many rejections was in school,”
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Despite the rejections, Henry holds no animosity towards any of the clubs that refused his requests, saying, “The clubs are within their rights. My stance hasn’t changed. We knew we would face this situation. I expected it. I would have been more surprised if it were the other way around.”
France will be hoping to win the Olympic gold medal on home soil and still have a star-studded squad to help them achieve this. They kick off the tournament against the United States of America, before taking on Guinea and New Zealand in their other group games.
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