Frankfurt: France striker Thierry Henry is a self-confessed fan of Brazilian football.
"You just have to look at those five stars on their shirt to understand that football is part of their identity," Henry said on Thursday, two days before France play Brazil in a World Cup quarter-final on Saturday in Frankfurt.
"They love the game so much. They just have to race that ball forward, that's the way they always have been and always will be.
Passion for the game, Henry said, was what made five-times champions Brazil such a fantastic team.
"In Brazil they're born with a ball," he said. "On the beach, on the street, at school, everywhere you look, they're playing football.
"When I was a kid, I used to ask my mum if could go out and play and she often said I couldn't. In Brazil, the kids are out there playing from eight in the morning until six at night."
Henry also pointed out at Brazil's in-depth strength. "When you see that a player like (Olympique Lyon midfielder) Juninho, who is so dominant in the French league, is not even in their starting lineup, that says it all," he said.
The Arsenal striker, a real enthusiast for the game, could go on for ever on France's epic quarter-final win over Brazil in the 1986 finals.
He was only eight then but remembers every minute of it. "I remember that Brazil team were superb," he said. "They dominated that match but, as a French fan, you didn't want to admit that."
France won that match in Guadalajara on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Henry was a France player when the two sides met again in the 1998 World Cup, this time in the final, which he had to follow from the bench.
Asked whether it was a dream to face Brazil again, Henry said: "Not for us, no. It's a dream for the fans but for us it's a game we have to play.
"We have a lot of respect for Brazil and they have a lot of respect for us but we have to win that match."
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