'Relax, I love Kane and Lamine Yamal' – Henry defends his Ballon d'Or hosting

Former Arsenal forward Thierry Henry responds to criticism of a number of comments he made during Monday's Ballon d'Or ceremony and claims they were "jokes". Thierry Henry finished runner-up to Pavel Nedved in the 2003 Ballon d'Or Former Arsenal forward Thierry Henry has defended himself after criticism over the way he hosted Monday's Ballon d'Or ceremony. The Frenchman, who has come under fire for remarks he made towards Barcelona star Lamine Yamal, overall winner Harry Kane and co-host Kate Scott on the night, has addressed on social media what he said was "people getting really excited about nothing". Henry, who was presenting the ceremony alongside CBS Sports colleague Scott, joked with Lamine Yamal about him winning a third successive young player of the year award.

He also corrected Scott's pronunciation of Brazil legend Socrates' name and admitted he wanted fellow Frenchman Kylian Mbappe to beat Kane to the top prize. Addressing the Lamine Yamal situation, which received an audible reaction from the audience in attendance, Henry said he wasn't "checking his ego" and emphasised his admiration of the young Spaniard. On the night, he teased Lamine Yamal by saying of his young player award: "It's your third one, right? But is it the one you really wanted to win?" Speaking on Wednesday, he said: "I'm a big fan of Lamine