FORMER Nigeria international and football legend, Taribo West, has named Premier League Hall of Famer, Thierry Henry, has the toughest opponent he ever faced on the pitch.
Both West and Henry had met 3 times in Ligue 1 when Henry played for Monaco while Taribo West was a center back for Auxerre with Henry firing blanks in all encounter.
Henry was one of the toughest strikers I played against. Throughout my sojourn in Europe, I don’t think I slept, I was always calculating ahead of the next striker I would play against," West told The Punch.
"To play in the French topflight then as a defender, you must be very good because all the teams had first- class strikers. Go to Italy, England, Germany, it was the same. I was one of the defenders that were outstanding.
"There were very few attackers that passed me one-on-one to score, they were very few. Henry was one of the emerging stars then, and when Auxerre played against Monaco, I always breathed down his neck.
"I made him shiver like they were pouring snow on him. That’s why he said I was the toughest defender he played against."
Thierry Henry in his football career netted 228 goals for Arsenal during his time in the Premier League while Taribo west, who has played in the Premier League, Serie A and Bundesliga, was part of the Nigeria squad that won the 1996 Olympic Gold medal.
