Wenger hails 'Best in the world' Henry

Last updated : 08 May 2006 By Chris Parry
He said:

"For the history of the club and for this building here, to finish on a high I am very proud of because we would all have felt guilty to have walked out of here on a low after what has happened here for years. There was fantastic excitement, strength of character and quality as well."

Wenger reflected: "When you are the best player in the world, you want to play in the best competition in the world, therefore of course I feel it is an excitement for us. But even if we had not qualified today, we still had a chance on May 17, which we want to take - we could qualify as well through that."

Wenger said of Henry:

"Certainly for me, today he is the best striker in the world. It looks being captain this year has given him another dimension in that he has grown in stature as a player and has matured a lot with a sensible attitude on the pitch."

"I thought Wigan gave us a hard time and that we had to deal with nerves as well. I feel we did it in a fantastic manner over the final week of the season and am very proud of my team, who showed a lot of character."

"It now takes a bit of pressure off for the final, but I am confident this team has character. We will not be favourites, but we will go in there and try to get the cup back."