HARRISON, N.J. -- Thierry Henry clearly is thrilled to be a New Yorker. In fact, he's so eager to adopt the big city lifestyle that he rode the cramped, sweaty PATH train from Manhattan, where he's staying in a hotel, out to this industrial Jersey suburb on the Passaic River ahead of his Thursday night debut in a Major League Soccer uniform. The PATH is no place for a prima donna."It was the quickest way to come to the game," he said. "I was on the train with my friends, with all the fans. It was quite an experience. It was the quickest way to come, so that's how I came. It was cool."
Once he arrived at Red Bull Arena, he gave New Yorkers every reason to be just as thrilled to have him. Within minutes of the start of an exhibition game between the Red Bulls and England's Tottenham Hotspur, which qualified to play in this season's UEFA Champions League, Henry demonstrated his ability to find the ball and shape the course of a match. He'd been practicing with his new teammates for less than a week, but he fit in right away.
In the fourth minute, he bought some time in midfield and floated a nearly perfect curling pass down the left flank intended for Seth Stammler. A Spurs defender reached the ball first. One minute later, Henry drew cheers from the crowd of 20,312 with a deft flick of the ball with the outside of his right foot. The pass reached fellow striker Macoumba Kandji, and the Red Bulls kept possession until Stammler sent a header wide.
Kandji had said before the game that he "still can't believe" he'll be partnering with Henry. "It's just amazing," the 24-year-old from Senegal said. He probably was imagining plays like that one.
In the seventh, Henry wasted a clear-cut scoring chance. A fortunate bounce left him alone in front of goal with Spurs keeper Carlo Cudicini at his mercy, but the shot was scuffed a bit and the Italian made the save. In the ninth, Henry held off Tottenham's Kyle Walker on the left and hit a low hard cross that gave Cudicini some trouble.
In just 10 minutes, Henry proved his class. He was working with his Red Bulls teammates and getting the ball in position to do some damage. The chemistry was there.
Then in the 25th, the former Arsenal and Barcelona legend, the man who's won just about every trophy available in world soccer, gave the fans what they came for and took his first step toward justifying Red Bull's faith in him. New York midfielder Joel Lindpere created the play with a slick move on the left, and Henry deftly finished the cross with a sliding right-footed shot. He jogged toward the corner flag to the left of Red Bull Arena's north goal, pointing and nodding toward the fans.
"You saw it," he said of the celebration. "I'm here. That's what I'm saying. I'm here. It's good to be here."
The Frenchman, who hasn't played since his country's embarrassing first-round elimination from the World Cup one month ago, faded toward the end of the half and was replaced during intermission. But the statement was made. Henry will make the Red Bulls, and MLS, better.
"I'm trying hard to get back into fitness. Obviously after the World Cup I didn't do a lot. I don't know, maybe 10-15 days, you know, to get back into being in shape," he said. "But hey, I wanted to play today and try to go out there and help."
Spurs coach Harry Redknapp joked, "The young guy up front first half, Henry, looks like he has a good future," adding, "He was fantastic. He's a different class."
New York led Tottenham's starters 1-0 at the interval. In the second half, Spurs recovered and scored twice. Captain Robbie Keane knocked in a corner kick in the 62nd minute and Welsh international Gareth Bale tallied the winner 10 minutes later. The hosts had several chances to equalize, but none could take their chance like Henry. The Londoners won on the night, 2-1, but New Yorkers will win in the long run. Henry is the complete package, despite what the Irish might think.
The natural question is whether the players around him are good enough. Henry said they are.
"You saw the move of Joel today. Great move, great cross. The guys, obviously we're going to have to work together, but yes, the guys are all good guys," he said. "We're going to have to go forward as a team and win something as a team. Not me, or two or three [players], it's going to be a team thing."
Red Bulls first-year coach Hans Backe said, "I don't think we should force it. Of course [Henry] is a massive impact for us and will make a difference. But to be realistic, one player can't change the team totally. He needs his teammates around him to feed him with the right passes, the killer passes ... this is a long-term process."
At the same time, Henry is "a world-class player," the coach said. "This is a player who can make things by himself."
Those teammates looked plenty good on Thursday night -- they should have been ahead by more than one at halftime -- and they'll get better. Forward Juan Pablo Angel missed the game with an injured ankle. He's second in MLS with nine goals. And the talk around Red Bull Arena was that the signing of Mexico and Barcelona defender Rafael Márquez is imminent, and could be announced as early as next week.
But Henry will remain the focal point. He combines charisma with the potential to dominate like no MLS player before him. His seamless interaction with his teammates during the first half proved the latter, and the crowd's response to him each time he touched the ball demonstrated the former. He opened his post-game press conference in Spanish, switched to English, then answered a few questions in French.
Put simply, Henry is cool. One can only hope that attracts more fans to Harrison, and rubs off on some that already show up. The "You suck, a**hole" cheer directed by the fan clubs at the south end of the stadium toward opposing goalkeepers as they take a goal kick, for example, is incredibly juvenile and uninteresting. That word is funny to eight-year-olds (and sadly, Philadelphia Union supporters were doing the exact same thing on Wednesday against Manchester United.) Perhaps the Empire Supporters Club will take a cue from Henry and come up with something a bit more sophisticated.
Henry ended his evening by signing a few autographs outside the players tunnel.
"This stadium looks like a football stadium. That's really important. The club made the stadium feel like a home stadium," he said. "It was amazing to see the fans, walking with them to the stadium. Just amazing. I would say the reception was tremendous. Every time I touched the ball, when I came out, when I scored. It is something important to me to feel at home."
Based on Thursday's first impression, this home could be a sweet one.