It was a play that barely registered a ripple on Wednesday night, except for the fact that several Sporting Kansas City players came away angry, insisting that New York Red Bulls star Thierry Henry had gotten away with a pretty dirty play.
As Sporting KC's 2-0 victory headed toward stoppage time, and with most players standing around after a substitution, Henry ran up toward Kei Kamara and aimed his head at the side of Kamara's head, making contact that sent both players to the ground.
The play incensed Sporting KC, which surely remembered Henry's antics during a Red Bulls loss in Kansas City last year when he crashed into Roger Espinoza off the ball and earned a red card. On that play Henry tried pleading his innocence too but was still sent off.
Henry is known for his fiery temper, and for losing his cool at times. There were reports last year of Henry injuring former Red Bull Mike Jones with a dirty tackle after losing his temper during a training session.
The real question is whether MLS will look at Wednesday's incident and consider serious punishment for a play that looked to be intentional.
If you missed Henry's clash of heads with Kamara, here are some video clips (albeit grainy ones) of the incident:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj3ZyaiVexs]
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYKP2y8NpkI]
And in case you don't remember it, here was Henry's red card against Sporting Kansas City last year:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttHh2bETL70]
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As of Friday, MLS had made no mention of the incident, which would seem to suggest Henry will play for the Red Bulls on Saturday against New England (Henry has skipped previous trips to play on the turf at Gillette Stadium, but with the Red Bulls chasing a high playoff seed it was expected that he would play on Saturday).
If MLS does look at the play, and deem it intentional, Henry would likely be facing a multi-game suspension during a crucial point in the season.
What do you think of the incident? Believe it was just an accident, or do you think Henry intentionally headbutted Kamara? See the league stepping in with some punishment? Think Henry is innocent? If not, how many games do you think he should be suspended?
Share your thoughts below.