It was not good news for the New York Red Bulls Fridayday, when they found out that star-striker Thierry Henry would miss today's match with the Houston Dynamo.
Apparently the injury occurred in the 3-2 loss to Chivas USA the week before. This was the update from the Red Bulls official website:
During the session, it was clear Henry was lacking his normal quickness and turn of speed on the practice field. He slowly hobbled away from training at the halfway point of the team's session, heading toward the team's locker room area at Red Bull Arena.
"Whenever I want to control the ball or pass I couldn't do it properly, so I didn't want to aggravate it more," Henry said.
A healthy Henry will be crucial over the next month, as coach Hans Backe let slip on Thursday afternoon that New York will lose Juan Agudelo to the United States national team for the upcoming Gold Cup. Dwayne De Rosario and Dane Richards, two other valuable Red Bulls attackers, are also expected to be gone for the tournament.
While it's not good news that Henry is injured, it's the right thing for Backe to do to sit him today. Henry's importance will be measured through the entire season, and if he needs to take a game off to get back to health, then so be it. It's not worth him missing more time, especially when the injury is the same one that hampered him all of last season.
The scary part is the Gold Cup losses, which will steal Agudelo, De Rosario and Richards; which, if Henry remains unhealthy, becomes a massive problem.
But New York can burn that bridge when it gets there. For now the Red Bulls need to focus on the Dynamo, a tough task without Henry. It's even more daunting when you factor in Henry's five goals and three assists his last five games for New York.
Look for Agudelo to possibly get the nod at the striker position, and the midfield to be active up front in the early stages of the game.
More after the game.