July 18, 2012
DIFFERENCE MAKER
Klopas applauds Henry's brilliant goal

Thierry Henry volleys the ball past Fire defender Jalil Anibaba and into the net for the only goal of Wednesday's 1-0 Red Bulls win. Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images

HARRISON, N.J. -- World class players find a way to beat you, even in scorching 100 degree heat, and the New York Red Bull's Thierry Henry is that type of player--one who can score goals that will make the opposing coach sing his praises, even in defeat.

Even though the 71st minute strike hand the Fire a 1-0 defeat in front of an afternoon crowd announced at 15,814 on Wednesday, Chicago Fire coach Frank Klopas marveled about the fantastic strike.


"Sometimes there are goals you have to clap and move on," Klopas said after the Red Bulls' 1-0 win. "What are you going to do? They played a great ball and the guy showed his class. That's why he played at Barcelona and Arsenal and those teams. It's too bad it's against us, but I'm sure a lot of fans enjoyed that."

The RBA crowd, announced at 15,814, certainly did, as did Henry and his teammates.

For the Fire coach, that moment might have been the only one in the game worth applauding, as the Fire showed little in their attack.

“Disappointing for us, any time you lose," said Klopas. "Obviously a great player scored a great goal and made the difference. The first half I thought we weren’t very good in possession, and that’s the thing we talked about. I think we dropped a little too deep and gave them a lot of space. They really didn’t create much. The one opportunity I think we lost the ball on the turnover, and Henry obviously showed his class there. What can you say?”

The goal came when recently acquired forward Sebastien LeToux played a long diagonal ball to Henry, who settled wit with his chest, then took a left footed shot from across his body and on a difficult angle, putting it off the first post and into the net.

“It was exactly what you saw," said Henry. "I made a move, got the ball, great pass; striker instincts. I went for goal and the ball went in the back of the net. Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t but I’m never scared to try anything, that’s me. As I said on MSG before, I needed to do something, I was pretty useless recently because of injuries, not delivering. I had to do something today.”

Goalkeeper Sean Johnson may have been the most active of the Fire's players, making three big saves in the game, while Chicago did not manage to force a single save on New York's new goalkeeper Bill Gaudette.

" “We’re just trying to push it," said Fire forward Domenic Oduro. "We know we have a good team, we’re just trying to keep the ball. We just wanted the ball to do the talking, and hopefully get one or two counters and put the ball in the net. Just unfortunate that it didn’t go our way.”

The loss was the second in the last three games for the Fire, who fall to 9-7-4, while New York is 10-5-5.

BigAppleSoccer.com Editor Michael Lewis contributed to this story