Thierry Henry is one of the biggest names in the history of Arsenal and French football. Lionel Messi is Barcelona's greatest idol and is in the discussion for best player in history. The two, curiously, play together in Brazil and for the same team: São Paulo.
That's right: Lionel Messi da Silva and Thierry Henry Santos Souza are two players from the youth categories of Sao Paulo. At age 10, the namesake of the Argentine star secured last Friday (12) his first federative link with the club. The Frenchman's namesake is a highlight of the under-15 category and has been with Tricolor since 2018.
Henry and Messi in Brazil
Thierry Henry has the archetypal centre-forward height: 1.92m and already a top scorer: he was São Paulo's top scorer in the 2022 Paulista U-15 Championship, with nine goals. He has also made appearances for the team's under-17s since last year. His father, Gerlan Souza da Silva, decided to name him in reference to the French star after Brazil's elimination from the 2006 World Cup, in which the striker scored the winning goal for France.
Henry had trials at other teams in the state before arriving at São Paulo in 2018. In the Tricolor's youth categories, he has always been a standout. Last year, the U-15 team had a great campaign in the Paulista Championship, finishing the competition as runners-up, losing to Palmeiras on penalties in the final.
Lionel Messi, who joined São Paulo last Friday, is only 10 years old and will compete in the youth divisions this year. Since February last year, the Sao Paulo attacking midfielder has been catching the eye as a club athlete and will play in the futsal and field competitions.
Messi was born in 2013 and was named by his parents after the Barcelona legend, who now plays for Paris Saint-Germain. The child athlete himself is a big fan of the Argentinean star, even having birthday parties with the seven-time FIFA World Player of the Year as the theme.
"What a wonderful moment, to be able to sign my first contract with São Paulo. After a long time I could achieve my first goal" - wrote Messi wrote on his Instagram account.
The agreement between Messi and Sao Paulo has reached Argentina. The newspaper "Olé" and the broadcaster "Tyc Sports" broke the story about the signing of a 10-year-old player, named after the Argentine star, by the São Paulo club. The Sao Paulo native is expected to play in the IberCup for the Tricolor U10 field team.