{"id":2234,"date":"2026-10-28T10:16:04","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T10:16:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/28\/thierry-henry-explains-yamal-joke-after-fans-accuse-him-of-disrespect\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T10:16:04","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T10:16:04","slug":"thierry-henry-explains-yamal-joke-after-fans-accuse-him-of-disrespect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/28\/thierry-henry-explains-yamal-joke-after-fans-accuse-him-of-disrespect\/","title":{"rendered":"Thierry Henry explains Yamal joke after fans accuse him of disrespect"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Thierry<\/p>\n

Former Arsenal and France striker Thierry Henry has explained his controversial remarks about Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal during the 2026 Ballon d\u2019Or ceremony, insisting that he had no intention of disrespecting the young footballer.<\/p>\n

Henry, who co-hosted the awards ceremony alongside Kate Scott on Monday, faced criticism after jokingly questioning whether Yamal really wanted the Kopa Trophy, an award presented to the best young player in world football.<\/p>\n

Yamal won the trophy for the third consecutive time, but Henry\u2019s comments sparked reactions from fans who interpreted them as a suggestion that the teenager was overly concerned about winning individual honours.<\/p>\n

Responding to the backlash in a video shared on Instagram, Henry said his remarks had been misunderstood, stressing that he was a huge admirer of the Barcelona star.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Lamine Yamal, I wasn\u2019t checking his ego at all. I just thought that, as the third time that he\u2019s winning that trophy, I just asked him if that\u2019s the one that he really wanted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The former Barcelona forward explained that he had expected Yamal to compete for the main Ballon d\u2019Or award, which was eventually won by England captain Harry Kane.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a big fan of Lamine Yamal. I wasn\u2019t checking his ego whatsoever. That you didn\u2019t like the joke, I can understand, but please don\u2019t do that. He\u2019s one of the players that I will pay to watch. I love him,\u201d Henry added.<\/p>\n

He described Yamal as an exceptional talent whose performances he enjoys watching, expressing regret that the youngster did not claim the night\u2019s biggest prize.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, he didn\u2019t win it, because he\u2019s a hell of a player that I enjoy to watch,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Henry also addressed a separate controversy involving his co-host, Scott, after viewers criticised him for making a joke about her pronunciation of the name Socrates, the late Brazilian football legend.<\/p>\n

The former France international denied disrespecting Scott, maintaining that the exchange was planned and that she was aware of the joke before it was delivered.<\/p>\n

\u201cKate was with me on that joke,\u201d Henry said. \u201cAnd you can ask Kate, by the way. She did it on purpose, to say Socrates. And I had to say Socrates [with a different pronunciation].\u201d<\/p>\n

He urged critics to stop portraying the exchange as an attempt to embarrass his colleague.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgain, that you didn\u2019t like the joke, I understand. But please stop saying that I disrespect Kate. I will never do that,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The 49-year-old further clarified his comments about Kane, explaining that although he supported fellow Frenchman Kylian Mbappe, he had congratulated the England striker on winning the Ballon d\u2019Or.<\/p>\n

Henry said he praised Kane for his dedication and work ethic, describing the striker as a deserving winner.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just said to him [Kane], \u2018You are a worthy winner. You deserve it. You are the example of what I always call: work ethic is a talent, working hard is a talent,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Henry also revealed that he had called Kane \u201cSir Harry Kane\u201d since the World Cup, reiterating his respect for the striker\u2019s achievements.<\/p>\n

Concluding his response, the former Arsenal captain urged fans to stop reading disrespect into his jokes, reaffirming his admiration for Yamal and Kane and his respect for Scott.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo please, people out there. Relax. I love Harry Kane, I love Lamine Yamal. And I didn\u2019t disrespect Kate. She was in on the joke with me. Have a good night, see you soon,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n

The post Thierry Henry explains Yamal joke after fans accuse him of disrespect<\/a> appeared first on Vanguard News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source: <\/p>\n

Vanguard News<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Arsenal and France striker Thierry Henry has explained his controversial remarks about Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal during the 2026 Ballon d\u2019Or ceremony, insisting that he had no intention of… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2235,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}