On the 16th, French football star and former Arsenal legend Henry officially announced his retirement.
Thierry Henry was born on August 17, 1977. In 1994, Henry made his debut in professional football for Morocco. On 13 January 1997, the first professional contract was officially signed with monaco clubs. In 1998, Henry represented France in the World Cup and eventually won the championship. In January 1999, Henry joined Serie A giants Juventus. In August 1999, Henry moved to Arsenal. In 2007, he moved to Barcelona, Spain. In October 2007, he broke Platini's national team goal record and became the most goalscored player in The French team's history. In June 2010, Henry represented the French men's national football team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. In July 2010, he moved to the Major League New York Red Bulls and announced his retirement from the French national team. He returned to Premier League Arsenal in January 2012. On the afternoon of December 16, 2014, it was officially announced that he would retire.
Fast forward to July 12, 1998, when France beat Brazil 3–0 in the World Cup final, winning the Hercules Cup for the first time in history. At that time, the French team had Zidane as the core, Deschamps as the captain, the team's all-time top scorers Henry and Trezeguet as the front, Piré, Djoqaf and Petty as the midfield auxiliaries, with Lizarazu, Blanco, Desaili, Thuram and Batez as the main defenses, winning the 1998 World Cup, the 2000 European Championship and the 2001 Confederations Cup, dominating the world football world. After 16 years, where have these players, known as the "golden generation", gone?
Henry announced his retirement and was named the first striker in the Premier League for 50 years by the British media
Zidane
In the 1998 World Cup in France, Zidane reached the first peak of his career, and Zidane's bald head became the most shining landscape in that World Cup, leading France to the World Cup with two goals.
At the 2000 European Championship in the Netherlands and Belgium, Zidane led france to the top again and won the European Championship.
In the 2002 Champions League finals, Zidane used a one-footed surprise to turn around and volley in the air with a four-seat left foot to score the winning goal, helping Real Madrid win the Champions League that year. This classic shot is affectionately known by fans as the "Flying Fairy".
In the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany, Zidane angrily slammed his head into Materazzi's chest due to an insult by opposing defender Materazzi and was sent off with a red card. With Zidane rubbing shoulders with the Hercules Cup, this scene made countless fans feel sad, and the performance of a generation of masters finally came to an end, which became a major regret in an almost perfect football career, and what a colorful football story ended.
In the 2013-2014 season, Zidane was Assistant Coach and President Advisor to Real Madrid, helping Ancelotti win Real Madrid's tenth Champions League and nineteenth Copa del Rey.
Deschamps
Deschamps played more than 100 games for the national team and captained the French national football team to win the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Football Championship. He has played for professional clubs including Nantes (France), Marseille (France), Bordeaux (France), Juventus (Italy), Chelsea (England) and Valencia (Spain). He is retired and has coached Serie A side Juventus and Ligue 1 Monaco and Marseille, and is currently the head coach of the French national team.
Trezeguet
Trezeguet won the World Cup with France in 1998. In the 2000 Euro 2000 final, he scored the Golden Ball to win the European Championship for France. He joined Juventus in the 2000–01 season, winning the Serie A title and the Serie A Golden Boot during his time at Juve, and becoming Juve's all-time best foreign scorer. He left Juve in 2010 to join Hercules in La Liga and joined River Plate argentina in 2011. He currently plays for Pune FC in the Indian Premier League.
Pire
Piré moved to Marseille in 1998. Pires spent two disappointing years at Marseille, joining Arsenal in 2000. In 2001/02, Pirre became the premier of the Premier League assists list and was named England Footballer of the Year and Arsenal Player of the Year, helping the team win both the league and FA Cup titles, unfortunately injuring a cruciate ligament at Newcastle United. After a long period of recuperation, Pires returned in 2002/03 and scored a decisive goal in the final to beat Southampton 1-0 to defend the FA Cup. In 2003/04, he assisted Arsenal to become the first team to win the title unbeaten in the 115-year history of the top flight.
Piré was a member of France's winning team at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France and the 2000 Europa Europa League, but missed the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan due to injury. However, in late 2004, he had an opinion with France coach Domenek, and the international career was interrupted from the end, and Piré played 52 games for France and scored 10 goals.
In 2005/06, Piré and Arsenal quarreled over new contracts. In 2006, Piré chose to join La Liga side Villarreal as a free agent, ending a six-year relationship with Arsenal.
In the summer of 2010, Piré did not receive a contract extension from Villarreal after the expiration of his contract and became a free agent. Piré returned to England to practice with old club Arsenal to stay in shape. On 16 November, Aston Villa's assistant manager announced that Pirre was coming, and two days later, he signed a six-month contract with a total of seven games.
Djokov
In the 1998 World Cup, France won the championship, when Djokov was 30 years old. Two years later, Djokov continued to play with France in the European National Cup, winning Euro 2000. Djokov then moved to smaller clubs, including Germany's Kaiserslautern, Premier League's Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn. Djokov withdrew from the national team after the 2002 World Cup. In 2005 he moved to the United States to join the local league club New York Red Bulls, where he played for more than a year, ending his career on October 29, 2006.
Petit
Petit, an important member of france's world championship in 1998, has long blonde hair as its distinctive symbol. At the 1998 Fifale world cup in France, he performed heroically and scored his third goal in the final against Brazil, helping France to a complete victory over their opponents.
After helping France win Euro 2000, Petit travelled to Barcelona, Spain, along with teammate Overmars, in the 2000–2001 season. He moved to Chelsea in 2001-2002 for a transfer fee of £7.5 million. Petit played at Chelsea until 2004, when Jose Mourinho made a massive purge of the team's players after his arrival at Chelsea in 2004-2005, so Petit was released from Chelsea before the season even started. In January 2005, petit was unable to return to the physical condition required for professional competition after knee surgery, and finally Petit had to choose to hang up her boots, thus ending her career of more than ten years.
Lizarazu
Lizarazu made his debut in Bordeaux and, together with Zidane, helped the team reach the final of the UEFA Cup in 1996. During his time with the French national team, he won the World Cup in 1998 and the European Football Championship in 2000, respectively, and the Two Confederations Cup in 2001 and 2003, making 97 appearances for the national team and scoring 2 goals. He is one of the rare "Grand Slam" winners in football today.
Lizarazu officially signed with Bayern Munich on 1 July 1997 and has been with the team ever since, only briefly playing for Marseille during 2004. Lizarazu's career was extremely successful, winning the Bundesliga in 1998-99, 1999-00, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2004-2005, 2005-06, the Bundesliga in 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005 and 2006, the League Cup in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2004, the UEFA Champions Cup and the Toyota Cup in 2000-01. He made a total of 181 Bundesliga appearances for Bayern and scored seven goals. During his time with the French national team, he won the World Cup in 1998 and the European Football Championship in 2000.
In the 2005–06 season Bayern Munich successfully defended the German Cup and league title, with Frenchman Lizarazow winning his fifth German Cup and his sixth Bundesliga title. In 2006, Lizarazu's long and illustrious career ended.
Blanco
Laurent Blanco, a member of the 1998 World Cup winner France and won the 2000 European National Cup for the national team; as a coach, he led Bordeaux to win the Ligue 1 title, became the head coach of the French national team in July 2010, led the team to Euro 2012, lost 2-0 to Spain in the quarter-finals, france suffered infighting during the European Championship, after the European Cup, on July 1, 2012, the French Football Association announced that Blanco was no longer the head coach of the French team. Deschamps then took over the coaching whip of the French team. It is worth mentioning that Blanco was once famous for kissing the bald head of French goalkeeper Butters.
Blanco kisses Batz
Desailly
Desailly is an insurmountable "gate" in the French team's defensive line, he is tall, has good strength and speed, and has excellent card awareness. At the same time, perhaps because he has played in midfield, his passing and organizational skills are also very good. On 22 August 1993, de Selly made his debut for the national team during a match against Sweden. He then won the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship.
In the summer of 1993, Desailly joined ac Milan in Italy, becoming an important member of the "Milanese dynasty" in the 90s, and making great achievements for the team - the league championship and the European Champions Cup. In June 1998, Desailly joined Premier League side Chelsea. Until his departure on 6 July 2004, he made 222 appearances for Chelsea, helping the London club team win the UEFA Super Cup, the European Cup Winners' Cup, the FA Cup and the pre-season English Premier Cup. Chelsea captain and French national team captain Desailly ended his years of Premier League adventures and rushed to The Agaraf club in West Asia to pan for gold.
Thuram
Lilian Thuram, one of France's members who won the World Cup in 1998, is one of the best defenders in the world, and two goals scored in the semi-final of the 1998 World Cup against Croatia made him a hero for France. After seven years of playing for Monaco in France, he moved to Parma in Serie A, where he and Italian Cannavaro formed one of football's finest pairs. In the summer of 2001 Thuram joined Juventus. Playing as a defender in this team and becoming the most expensive defender in the world for £22 million, his good defensive awareness and excellent physical fitness make it possible for almost no one in the French team to shake his position. In the summer of 2006, he moved to Barcelona, Spain for 5 million euros.
On August 1, 2008, former France international Thuram officially announced his retirement. After the European Cup, Thuram announced his withdrawal from the national team, and then Thuram also bid farewell to Barca and prepared to transfer back to Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain, but in the physical examination, Thuram was detected for heart problems, so the transfer was also stranded, and Thuram's brother died suddenly because of heart problems. After much deliberation, Tulum announced his retirement.
Vieira
Patrick Vieira is a valuable asset to the French national team, one of the few people who can best perform the two most important functions of a defensive midfielder: he can both dismantle the opposing attack and launch his own attack. His outstanding performances in the competitions for France, especially at the 2000 European Championships, established him as a core player in the national team.
The move to Arsenal in 1997/98 was a turning point in Vieira's career, with Highbury helping arsenal win both league and cup titles in the year he arrived, and 1–01 Vihela again saw the Gunners crown double. After Adams retired from the 2-03 season, Vieira wore Arsenal's captain's armband. In the 2005/06 season, Vieira moved to Juventus. In the summer of 2006 he moved to Inter Milan. After that, Vieira returned to the Premier League, joining Manchester City and winning the FA Cup with the team. In July 2011, at the age of 35, he will join the management of Manchester City as head of football development, with the main responsibility of guiding young players to better develop.
Bartez
Fabian Butters, because he often shows his bald head, is known as the "bald door god". His career was full of splendor and drama, and in 1993, with a thick black hair, he won the Champions League with Marseille, of course, due to the match-fixing storm, the title was eventually stripped away. He then won the World Cup and European Cup doubles with France in 1998 and 2000, culminating in his career. But since then, his many mistakes in the club have been ruthlessly given the title of "butter hand" by the British media, but despite this, the experience and wonderful improvisation still make the "butter hand" the main goalkeeper of the French national team.
Batez represented the French national football team in helping to win the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Cup, and won two league titles for The Premier League winner Manchester United. After losing to Italy in the 2006 World Cup final, Batez was denied attempts to return to his mother, Toulouse, and finally announced his retirement.
When it comes to France's "golden generation of 98 years", there is another person who cannot fail to mention, that is, the head coach of France when it won the World Cup in 1998 - Jacquet. Fans who lived through the 98-year World Cup in France should know that at that time, Jacquet was heavily criticized by the French media. Abandoning the unruly Cantona and straightening zidane, Jakai was under great pressure. But it is precisely because of Jacquet's bold use of soldiers that the glory of French football has been achieved.