Emmanuel Petit has accused France of showing a lack of love for Thierry Henry, claiming that the country would be better if had been ‘overrun by Germans’.
Henry is set to leave New York Red Bulls having played what looks to be his last game in the MLS Cup at the weekend, though the forward has yet to confirm his future.
The 37-year-old continues to make headline news in England, where he spent several successful years with Arsenal, but Petit has accused the country of his birth – France, of neglecting his former team-mate.
“In England, they’ve built a statue of Thierry,” the ex-Arsenal midfielder told Sports.fr. “That means a lot. He’s adored there. It bothers me.
“What can we reproach Henry for? His handball against Ireland? He helped France qualify for the World Cup in South Africa. He has done nothing.
“France is hypocritical and cowardly. Sometimes I think that if we’d been overrun by the Germans, we’d be better run.
“He’s not hated but he’s certainly not loved. He got screwed by the French press after his handball and has since not spoken to the French media.
“In France, he has no collusion with the press, so what? Perhaps because he was not smiling when he scored for les Bleus! Well, that’s what I hate in this country.
“I have great difficulty with the French, I have never seen such arrogant, smug, lying and hypocritical people.”