Thierry Henry: “I want to see my team’s character”
The French coach of Montreal Impact faces Olimpia from Honduras today in the second leg of the quarterfinals of the 2020 Concachampions League.
The 2020 Concacaf Champions League will resume in the bubble of Orlando amid the coronavirus pandemic with the match between Montreal Impact and Olimpia. In the first leg the Honduran side beat the Impact 2-1, meaning they will have to turn the tie around in order to advance to the semifinals. In simple terms: win by two or more.
“The history of this club in this competition is second to none because it is one of the MLS teams that reached the final, but for me this is another possibility to see what type of character my team has,” said coach Thierry Henry in an exclusive interview with Concacaf.com.
“Everybody has to deal with what we’ve been dealing with, but there is an opportunity for them to show me that they have character. I always say to them: You win and you lose, but as long as you give everything, you give your best to win the game, I can always respect that,” added Henry.
“Being a goal down, actually two since it is an away goal, what can you give me? What can you show me? That’s the challenge. At the end of the day let’s try to win this game and see what can happen in the game. I give it to them as a challenge, regardless of what is happening in and around the club and with covid. I only care that we have a game that we need to win against a very difficult team, so let’s see what you have in your guts and where that might take us,” said Henry.
Montreal Impact finished in the ninth position of the Easter Conference at the end of the 2020 Major League Soccer season. They managed to make it to the playoffs, but in the first round they were eliminated after losing 2-1 against New England Revolution. Now Henry wants to see his team’s character as they prepare for the 2021 season.