The New York Red Bulls get their first game with their brand new acquisition, Thierry Henry, tonight, at Red Bulls Arena. It’s not a game that’s important in terms of the standings – it’s a friendly with English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur – but it should be one of the more hyped matchups the Red Bulls have had in their franchise history.
First off, it's not every day you a club from the world’s best club league comes to New Jersey. The Spurs finished fourth in the Premiership last year, putting them in this next season’s Champion’s League, and their lineup features such international players as Jermain Defoe, who scored for England in the World Cup, and Giovani Dos Santos, the ex-Barcelona player who started every game for Mexico.
Secondly, it’s definitely not every day that the Red Bulls get to debut a player who probably would be the star for the Premiership club they’re playing, and they’ll have a chance to do that tonight with Henry.
Henry has a history with Tottenham – in his eight years at Arsenal, the Spurs were his most bitter rival, as both clubs are situated in North London. The Star-Ledger asked him how he felt about facing his old enemies.
“What a script, right?" Henry said shaking his head. "The first game against Tottenham. I didn’t even know because it wasn’t planned that long ago so, yeah, Tottenham. What am I to do?"