HOORAY HENRY

DENNIS BERGKAMP said that his tip for the star of Euro 2000 was his club team-mate Thierry Henry. The Dutch forward will have the chance to see Henry play against him when Holland meet France in Amsterdam. So how has the Dutch master's prediction panned out so far?

After his goals against Denmark and the Czech Republic, it is clear that Henry has the ability to become a regular strike partner for Nicolas Anelka up-front for the French. While at Juventus, he was used as a winger, but has revelled in his attacking role at Arsenal, after a period of settling in. After scoring in seven consecutive league games for the north-Londoners he found himself back in the French squad and is keeping his place in fine style.

For France he has scored seven goals in 18 games, compared to Anelka (the man he replaced at Arsenal) who has netted four times in 13 international appearances. During Euro 2000, it appears that Bergkamp might be right about Henry's ability to become the star performer of the competition.

Henry has fired five of his eight shots on target, scoring twice as well as setting up a goal. Only Denmark's right-winger Jesper Gronkjaer has embarked on more dribbles than the 13 that Henry has attempted, showing his confidence on the ball, as well as his shooting prowess.

These performances come after having only made one substitute appearance in the qualifiers, despite being France's top scorer in 1998 World Cup with three goals. Some Euro 2000 guides don't include Henry in the squad, after certain people evidently expected him to make the final 22, but he clearly makes a habit of coming good at the right time for his country.

During France's triumphant 1998 World Cup, critics said that the French did not have any forwards. Now with Anelka and Henry, they have two of the quickest and deadliest in the business. With Zinedine Zidane pulling the strings behind them, there is no reason why Henry can't go on to keep taking the chances.

France are expected to go all the way to the final of the competition and Henry was the pre-Euro 2000 favourite to become the top scorer. With performances like those he has put in so far, his Arsenal team-mate Bergkamp might be on the money with his prediction. The current odds on Henry to top the scoring charts in Euro 2000 are 5/2.

Next season when they team up at Highbury, Henry might well have eclipsed Bergkamp as the Gunners number one striker and have a European championships medal to go with his World Cup Winners medal.