Former French soccer figure Thierry Henry , current coach of the Montreal Impact , knelt on Thursday for eight minutes and 46 seconds to protest racism and pay tribute to George Floyd before his first game in the MLS restart tournament.

Eight minutes and 46 seconds is a symbolic figure for being the time in which the African-American Floyd was brutally immobilized on the ground by a white police officer until he passed out and died soon after.

The crime, which has unleashed worldwide protests against racism since May, is also marking the beginning of the tournament with which the American football league ( MLS ) was reactivated on Wednesday after the stoppage due to the coronavirus.

As in the first two games of the ' MLS is Back ' tournament , the clash between Henry's Impact and the New England Revolution had as a preamble a demonstration of team solidarity with the anti-racist movement ' Black Lives Matter '. of black people matter).

Jumping onto the court of the Disney World sports complex (Orlando), in front of the empty stands, the footballers knelt on the grass and raised a fist in the air, as did alternates and coaches.

Once the game started, Henry, wearing a black shirt with the slogan 'Black Lives Matter', continued with the kneeling protest in front of his bench.

"It was eight minutes and 46 seconds, I guess you know why, " said Henry after the game. "It was just to pay tribute and show support for the cause . That was basically it, it's pretty simple."

New England and Philadelphia wins

Henry, a former star of Arsenal, Barcelona and the French national team, took the reins of the Impact this season after a bad debut as head coach with Monaco , where he left in January 2019 for poor results after less than four months in office.

Henry's Impact had a win and a draw in his first two games of the MLS regular season in March, when the competition was suspended by the pandemic.

This Thursday, however, the Canadian team fell 1-0 to the New England Revolution in its debut in the 'MLS is Back', a tournament that has a format similar to that of the World Cup and whose group stage matches will count for the regular season of the league.

In this first Group C clash, New England beat Montreal with an eye-catching goal by Argentina's Gustavo Bou in the 56th minute. Group C's opening day will be rounded off with Sunday's duel between Toronto FC and DC United.

On Thursday morning, a Group A game was played in which the Philadelphia Union defeated New York City FC with a lone goal by American midfielder Alejandro Bedoya in the 63rd minute.

Union players also participated in anti-racist protests by changing their names on T-shirts to the surnames of African-American people who have been victims of police brutality in recent years.

On the bottom of the shirts, under the names of the victims, the message was inscribed: " One name, too many" .

With this victory, the Philadelphia franchise is placed in second place in Group A, equaling points with the leader, Orlando City, who defeated Inter Miami on Wednesday 2-1 in the opening duel of the competition.

Nashville abandonment due to contagions

The withdrawal of a second team , Nashville SC , was also confirmed on Thursday , due to the contagion by coronavirus of nine of its players.

"The club has been unable to train since its arrival in Orlando and could not play games," said MLS commissioner Don Garber. On Monday, FC Dallas was the first team to leave due to the contagion of 10 players and a member of the coaching staff.

The MLS has implemented major prevention measures around the teams, all concentrated in a "bubble" environment in a Disney World hotel, applying thousands of tests to soccer players, coaches and the rest of the staff.

" 22 people have tested positive and we have tested 700 players . Most of those 22 belong to only two teams," Garber said. "The withdrawals were a difficult decision ... but they were too positive to be comfortable with them participating."

"We are confident that we will be able to keep this bubble strong and compact," said the commissioner. Around Disney World, the health situation has been deteriorating in recent weeks with the great increase in COVID-19 cases in the state of Florida.

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