Handball Henry is fans' No.1

THIERRY HENRY IS THE BEST-LOVED FOOTBALLER IN FRANCE. HE MAY not be so popular in Ireland after that handball incident in the World Cup qualifying matches, but Thierry Henry is the

best-loved footballer in France. Not only that, he is also its highest-paid sportsman. Henry was way out in front of a poll of fans to name their favourite players, taking 47% of the vote –

with Franck Ribéry in second place with 40% ahead of David Trezeguet on 26%, Yoann Gourcuff on 23.3% and Nicolas Anelka 23%. A study by sports newspaper L’Equipe also calculated the

32-year-old’s wages from FC Barcelona along with sponsorship deals net Henry about €18.8 million a year. He tops the list of highest paid French sportsmen, earning nearly as much as the next

two wages (basketball player Tony Parker and footballer Karim Benzema) combined. However, he has been reduced to warming the substitutes bench at Barca this season as his form has dived

since the Irish incident – and despite being their No1 player, he was booed by French fans in their 2-0 defeat to Spain. Footballers take all but three places in L’Equipe’s top 20

highest-paid list with ice hockey star Cristobal Huet, the goal tender for Chicago Blackhawks, slipping in at 18th. He gets €4.2m. Six-times world rally champion Sébastien Loeb takes fourth

place on €8.5m ahead of Franck Ribéry on €8m.