Thierry Henry, the former French national player, has identified Taribo West, the ex-defender for the Super Eagles, as the most challenging adversary he encountered in his career.
The victor of the 1998 World Cup shared his thoughts on CBS Sports’ In The Mixer while analyzing the Champions League on Tuesday.
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During their time in Ligue 1, Henry, then with AS Monaco, and West, wearing Auxerre’s jersey, competed on the field.
The Arsenal and Barcelona icon recounted that due to the man-marking system which was used by Auxerre at that time, West would follow his opponents around, “even in the dressing room.”
“Toughest as in direct opponent? Or just a guy you hated to play against? Paul Scholes. For direct opponent, I would go back in the days and say Taribo West,” he said.
“Because (at Auxerre), they did man-marking. He followed you everywhere, even in the dressing room.”
Following his time with Auxerre, which ended in 1997, Taribo West transferred to Inter Milan and later AC Milan, culminating in his retirement from professional football in 2007.
During his international career, West earned 42 caps for the Super Eagles from 1994 to 2005.
Additionally, he was a member of the Nigerian team that triumphed with a gold medal in soccer at the 1996 Olympic Games held in Atlanta.
