ARSENAL legend Thierry Henry has revealed the player who scared him during his playing days.
While speaking on CBS Sports ahead of the Champions League semi-final clash between Inter Milan and AC Milan, Henry and Co were graced with the presence of Paolo Maldini.
The Italian legend, who is now AC Milan’s technical director, joined the panel to discuss the tie and reminisce on old meetings between them.
In doing so, Henry lavished praise on the defender, before recalling their meeting during the World Cup quarter-final in 1998 which saw France beat Italy on penalties.
And the French star also revealed how he was “SCARED” to face Maldini.
He said: “What I want to tell you is very important and never had the opportunity to say it.
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“We played against each other in ’98, I’m not talking about the game as that’s not important as I have too much respect for you for that.
“When I realised I was coming on and playing on the right, I suddenly got scared because of what you represented.
“The defender that you were, for me, you epitomised what defending was about.
“The human being is even better than the player if that was possible. It’s just a privilege to have you with us tonight.
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“I think you are being humble, because you brought that winning mentality to Milan, so I’m happy to see you there.
“I just wanted to tell you that you used to scare me.”
After some laughter at the comment, Maldini then replied: “Thank you. I have to tell you that I wasn’t happy when I saw you were playing on my side.
“We were both scared.”
Maldini stayed with Milan his whole career, while Henry would go on to face Maldini again during his short time at Juventus in 1999.
Henry joined Arsenal in the same summer, where he stayed until 2007 when Barcelona came calling.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
