Thierry Henry has reacted to the criticism of a joke he made with Lamine Yamal, after Barcelona football player won the Koda trophy at the Golden Ball ceremony.

Yamal won the Koda trophy, which is awarded to the best young football player in the world, for the third consecutive year at the ceremony held Monday evening at London Padilum. He dedicated the prize to his associate at Barcelona, Pau Cubbars, saying that the trophy must have won him. His reaction clearly surprised Henry.

I’ve seen a lot of people talking about Golden Ball Eve, so I want to explain some things, because some people have made a lot of noise about something that was actually nothing.

As far as Lamine Yamal is concerned, I wasn’t trying to lower the ego. I just thought, being the third time you won that trophy, I should ask him if it really was the price he wanted.

I’m a great fan of Lamine Yamal. I wasn’t trying in any way to touch the ego. I understand if you didn’t like the joke, but please don’t go too far. He’s one of the players I’d pay to watch him play. I love him as a football player.

I was just wondering if that was the trophy he really wanted, because I knew that the main price would be given later. Unfortunately, he didn’t win it, even though he’s an extraordinary footballer, who I love to see.

Henry spoke of another joke that Kate Scott played with co-star when he corrected him for the pronunciation of the name of Socrate, Brazilian legend, whose name bears a humanitarian award shared during the Golden Ball ceremony.

The Frenchman explained that Scott was part of the joke and that she himself had confirmed it, commenting in his post that there was no disrespect.

Kate was part of that joke. You can ask him yourself. She pronounced the name Socrates so deliberately, and I had to pronounce it otherwise, Henry said. /Telegraph/