Love from fans wows Arsenal legend Thierry Henry at Mumbai event

PROLONGED CHANTING THAT drowned out the announcements and forced the host to stop talking and wait for the fans to get done cheering for their legend drove Thierry Henry emotional, and was the highlight of the event put on by Puma in Mumbai to let the fans meet the French footballing legend.

Wow. Amazing reception. Thank you @pumafootball #mumbai Honour to be here. pic.twitter.com/ixnyp0xdk1

— Thierry Henry (@ThierryHenry) October 26, 2016

The crowd at the event consisted overwhelmingly of Arsenal fans, and they had some choice chants ready for their club legends once he stepped out on a small football pitch for a training session with some of the best kids from nearby Arsenal Soccer Schools and later acted as the coach during a mock football game between the academy kids and some celebrities including footballers Shankar Sampingraj, Dharmaraj Ravanan and Vadocz.

Henry also participated in a short Q & A session during which he was asked many questions including how he felt about the goal he scored against Leeds in FA Cup during his second spell with Arsenal. He answered the question with,

"It was the first goal I scored as a fan."

He was also asked about the ISL match he attended the previous day, and his overall impression about the tournament, to which he said,

"I have only been to one game, but with ISL you are going in the right direction."

Although Henry's chemistry with the fans and the young players was top notch, there were some glaring inefficiencies on the part of the organizers. The gates were opened considerably late and the large number of fans had to wait in the sun for a long time before they could come in. And during Henry's session with the kids, when he asked for training bibs because all the kids wore identical kits which meant they could not be divided in two teams, none of the organizers seemed to know what he was talking about. Later, as the celebrities were brought onto the pitch, Henry had to ask several times before he was given a ball to keep training with the kids. 

Congrats to my man Chirag. Great work! @pumafootball #mumbai pic.twitter.com/KakyAAghhL

— Thierry Henry (@ThierryHenry) October 26, 2016

Henry, however, was gracious about the whole event, and at the end reminded the fans that it was all about encouraging the next generation to take up football,

"Tonight is about them, this is their moment. Thank you for understanding that."

Throughout the event, the fans remained loud and greeted their legend with chants and songs. Henry reacted to that saying,

"Wow... wow. I did not expect this."