Patrice Evra reiterates stance on Cristiano Ronaldo-Lionel Messi debate, names his Euro 2024 favorites and more
Patrice Evra, one of Sony Sports Network's expert panelists for Euro 2024, spoke candidly with Sportskeeda and a handful of other Indian publications in a wide-ranging interview. Euro 2024 is set to commence later this week in Germany, with Italy heading into the tournament as defending champions.
Evra, who played 81 times for France between 2004 and 2016, also had a brief stint as Les Bleus' captain and represented his country across five major tournaments in his decorated career. As for his club career, he's best known for his time at Manchester United, where he established himself as one of the best defenders in world football for Sir Alex Ferguson's all-conquering side.
Evra was asked about France captain Kylian Mbappe, his former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo's role for Portugal at Euro 2024 and a handful of other questions, to which the former French skipper responded candidly. Read further for excerpts from the interview.
Q: With Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni coming on the back of outstanding seasons for Real Madrid, is there a place in the France starting XI for N'Golo Kante?
Evra: I know N'Golo very well and I know how much Didier Deschamps likes him. In the friendly leading up to the tournament, he was the N'Golo we knew. Even though he is in Saudi Arabia, his level is still high. He was injured for a long time and that's why he wasn't selected for the national team for a while, but now he's back in the team for Euro 2024.
Deschamps always says France are better with Kante. It doesn't matter if Tchouameni and Camavinga had great seasons with Real Madrid, Deschamps likes players with experience, especially in midfield as most games are won in the middle part of the pitch.
Kante is not someone who will just play second fiddle, I would not be too surprised if he plays a few games. I'm not the manager and anything can happen, but I don't think he is in the squad just as a second or third-choice option.
Q: We've seen Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dominate world football for over a decade, but the dawn of a new era has seen the likes of Kylian Mbappe emerge. It's his first major tournament as captain, is it too early at this stage of his career?
Evra: If Deschamps has given him captaincy, it means he's ready. These days, age doesn't really matter. Even if there is a 16-year-old who is being named captain, I'll back him if he's got the leadership qualities.
Mbappe's name was on the newspaper every day during his transfer saga involving PSG and Real Madrid, but his performance was still great. He can handle it, but I think I'm well-placed to tell you that captaining your national team is a different pressure. If the team wins, everyone gets credit but if they lose, everyone is going to blame the captain.
Q: Bukayo Saka was one of the emerging stars of Euro 2020, but unfortunately missed his penalty for England in the final against Italy. Do you think he has evolved since then and is capable of leading England to glory?
Evra: There was a debate on who is the top international player between Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka. I think Saka needs to show himself on the biggest stage - we didn't see enough of him in the UEFA Champions League. This is a good moment for him to shine.
What a player he is though, he loves the 1v1 challenges. I don't like to compare players, but for Saka personally, I'm waiting for him to perform at the highest level.
Q: How do you fancy England's chances at Euro 2024? It's being said that Gareth Southgate's job could be on the line if they fail to win the tournament, what are your thoughts on that and the fact that he omitted Harry Maguire and Jack Grealish from the squad?
Evra: Gareth Southagte's job will always be on the line, that's how it is for England. He's done a great job so far and England have an amazing squad, but my only worry is that they do very well in the qualification but when the competition starts, the pressure is difficult to handle.
I personally love Jude Bellingham, but they have a lot of quality players. I'm not saying this just coz I'm a Manchester United legend, but Harry Maguire will be a big miss, mark my words. I know it's related to an injury, but it will be difficult for Maguire to understand because Luke Shaw is in the squad despite nursing an injury.
As for Grealish, he can make the difference on any given day and I could say the same for Marcus Rashford. We don't know what's happened on the inside, but I'm convinced England will surely miss Maguire.
Q: According to the recent performances, Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe have been among the goals and these 3-4 countries look like they can dominate the tournament. What is your prediction?
Evra: It's not because I'm French, but France are favorites. When you look at every team in this tournament, no one has a better squad. France have two or three players for each position, so they are a strong side. But the biggest problem for France is to be confident and not arrogant, as sometimes this is in our DNA. Sometimes we are too good and we think things are going to be easy, but it doesn't work out like that.
Germany will also be up there as the hosts - we can see how the hosts have fared well over the years. England will also have a good tournament as they have so many quality players but it will be up to the manager to pick the best XI. Spain and Netherlands could also be up there, but I think France are still favorites for me.
Q: Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace for Portugal yesterday. He has done so much but still comes under criticism. When you played with him, how did he handle all the negative chatter about him?
Evra: This is Cristiano Ronaldo we are talking about - the best player in the world. People are jealous, they just don't want him to succeed. When he went to Saudi, they said it's not a good league but when I spoke with a few players there, they said it's really difficult to score goals there. Despite that, Ronaldo has scored 50+ goals there! Not even 20-year-olds can do what Ronaldo does in the gym, that's the way he is. It is a big tournament for him and he will prove a lot of people wrong.
I don't pick Cristiano Ronaldo over Lionel Messi because he is my brother, i do that because I'm in love with his work ethic. For Messi, god gave him a gift, but for Ronaldo, he had to work hard to be where he is. The goal he scored yesterday was unbelievable and nothing surprises me about him anymore.
He's one of the greats of the game because he's always angry and I wouldn't be surprised if he plays until he is 45 because in his head, I don't think he has ever thought about his retirement.