Guwahati, Jun 6: Former French international and Manchester United legend Patrice Evra believes Indian players have the potential to play in the Premier League. He hopes the Indian government will focus on making football more prominent in the country.
During an interaction with The Assam Tribune, Evra, who won five Premier League titles and a UEFA Champions League with The Red Devils from 2006 to 2014, expressed his fondness for Indian food and Bollywood. "You've got the physique, you've got the ability. Indian people are really strong... why can’t they produce Premier League players? They just need the technique and need to practice," Evra said in a Zoom interaction arranged by Sony Sports Network, the official broadcaster of UEFA EURO 2024.
Evra, who will be an expert panellist for the network's studio show Football Extraaa during the championship, emphasized the importance of discovering raw talent. Citing his own example of rising from the streets without proper academy training in his early days, Evra stressed the need to organize more tournaments. "Bring experienced people to play and things will change gradually. You just have to believe in the process. If the government wants to make football the number one sport, they can. I definitely hope that Indian football can get bigger than what it is now," he opined.
Evra first visited India in January this year and is looking forward to returning for his next assignment. Recalling his memories of the country, the former left-back said the smiling faces of Indian people have mesmerized him. "I must say the smile on the people’s faces has been the best memory during my visit to India. I always wanted to come to India. Since I arrived in India (January 2024), I kept smiling. The warmth and love I received from people here are overwhelming," the former Manchester United captain recalled. "I love the food and Bollywood among many other things. So, I can’t wait to find another opportunity to come here again."
Euro Favourites:
Apart from France, Evra thinks Portugal, Germany, Croatia, and England have the potential to win UEFA EURO 2024. "But I don’t like to predict before the tournament starts. I believe it’s going to be an exciting tournament," he said.
Evra mentioned that France has the best squad but tends to be its own worst enemy. "No national team has a better squad than Les Bleus. We have a better bench as well. But sometimes we get too arrogant or too confident. I give the example of the last Euro when we lost against Switzerland despite leading 2-0," he narrated.
Talking further about France's football resources, Evra said it's due to the country's multicultural and multiracial composition. "Like myself, you know, I grew up on the streets, and you can find, I promise you, I won't exaggerate, maybe 20 Patrice Evras in any street in France. And why all this happened is because you've got people from, like born in Senegal, from Algeria, from Congo. So it's all this diversity, and that's made France one of the strongest national teams in the world," he added.
On former teammate Ronaldo:
Evra spent a considerable amount of time with Cristiano Ronaldo, who at 39 is most likely playing his last Euro Cup. Evra said he doesn’t like people constantly mentioning the age of players. "First of all, age is just a number. I think people need to stop mentioning age. If he's there, it's because he's got the level. Cristiano definitely would like to win that trophy again. It's more an advantage than a disadvantage to have Cristiano in the team. I really don't understand why people question his age or whatever," he said.
The UEFA EURO 2024, being hosted by Germany, begins on June 15.
