Jack Grealish and Declan Rice have expressed their delight after Thierry Henry joined England’s backroom staff ahead of Saturday’s Nations League opener against Ireland in Dublin.
Interim Three Lions boss Lee Carsley announced Henry’s last-minute addition in a desperate bid to deflect any negative attention away from those in his camp who represented the Republic of Ireland but switched allegiance to England.
‘I haven’t felt this lucky since I was Irish’, Rice told Paddy Power News.
‘When I hear those jeers ringing around the Aviva on Saturday, at least I’ll know the majority of them are aimed at Thierry’.
Former Ireland U21 Player of the Year Grealish echoed his sentiments:
‘Hey, Thierry! What’s the French for Va Va Booooooooooo!’, he joked.
Henry infamously ended Ireland’s hopes of qualification for the 2010 World Cup when he handled the ball in the build-up to William Gallas’ extra-time clinching goal for France in a play-off game in Paris.
However, the former Arsenal striker pled his innocence, claiming to believe that games against Ireland were played under Gaelic football rules in which hand-passing is permissible.
FIFA accepted Henry’s explanation and it later emerged former president Sepp Blatter paid the Irish €5million to stop legal action over the incident which the FAI claimed was ‘just resting’ in their bank account.
Meanwhile, new Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson has warned his players not to be distracted by the connections between the squads which have been further increased by ex-Ireland midfielder Carsley taking charge of the England side.
Hallgrimsson, who fought off stiff competition from Neil Lennon and Jedward to land the Irish job, told us:
‘I told the lads not to rile the English about their past affiliations. Best reminding them of the time Iceland pumped them at Euro 2012 instead’.
Finally, James McClean has waded into the debate about England’s former Ireland contingent.
‘They’re a bunch of turncoats’, said the former Northern Ireland U21 international.
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