Thierry Henry has leapt to the defence of Cristiano Ronaldo, insisting the recent row over the Portugal captain's exit from his national team camp cannot taint the assessment of a glittering career and all he has given to the game.
Speaking on RMC radio's "Rothen s'enflamme", the former Arsenal striker brushed aside the storm over Ronaldo's sudden departure from the Portugal camp in Denmark.
As reported by the Portuguese newspaper "A Bola", Henry said: "They have to solve their problems themselves, as we have our problems in France."
He refused point blank to tie the incident to the standing of the five-time Ballon d'Or winner. "Do we judge an entire career based on this?" he asked, before answering himself: "Impossible. When I think of Ronaldo, I will not think about this matter, never in my life!"
Any criticism he had aimed at Ronaldo in the past, Henry explained, concerned specific matches or moments rather than the whole career. "If it were about my mother or my father, it would be the same," he said.
Henry: what Ronaldo represents for football is exceptional
The Frenchman hailed what Ronaldo stands for, insisting his legacy needs no debate. "If we are talking about the legend, nothing can be said. What he represents for football is exceptional. We all praised his effort at the World Cup, and his next participation was supposed to be his last. And if it ends this way."
Speaking purely from a sporting standpoint, Henry said what strikes him most is the way Ronaldo deals with football and his unrelenting passion for it.
"What I like to emphasise in Ronaldo's case is his personality, the way he deals with football, his obsession with the game and with records and his desire to be the best, as well as his body, which has become in better condition than it was when he started his career," he continued. "This is exceptional. Without this obsession, we would not have known this player. We have lived through exceptional moments with him."
He signed off with a tribute to the game's elite. "I have great respect for Ronaldo, as I do for Messi and for all the players who have kept themselves at the top."