Patrice Evra

Early career

Evra began his football career playing for hometown club CO Les Ulis. After playing in the streets for years, he was brought to the club by friend Tshymen Buhanga, who informed the club coach, "I bring you the new Romário." Evra spent one year at the club under the watch of coach Jean-Claude Giordanella, who later became vice-president of the club. Giordanella described the player as "more quiet, almost shy. He was a good kid". Evra originally played football in the striker position and, while training at Les Ulis, underwent trials with professional clubs Rennes and Lens. Following the conclusion of the evaluations, Evra was rejected primarily due to his size. In 1993, he joined amateur club CSF Brétigny based in nearby Brétigny-sur-Orge. Similar to his stint with Les Ulis, Evra went on trials with several clubs, most notably Toulouse and Paris Saint-Germain. He was ultimately signed by the latter and converted into a winger. Evra trained at the Camp des Loges for a few months, but was later released. After failing to convince PSG officials of his ability as a footballer, Evra returned to Brétigny and was invited by a friend to participate in an indoor five-a-side football tournament organised by the Juvisy-sur-Orge sports center. While playing, he was spotted by an Italian scout who offered him the opportunity to attend a trial with professional club Torino. Evra spent ten days training with the club and, after the trial, was offered a place on the…

Under-21s

Evra is a former French youth international having played for the under-21 team. Due to harboring in Italy during his development years, he failed to earn call-ups with teams below the under-21 level. Evra earned his first call-up to the under-21 team under coach Raymond Domenech on 3 October 2002 for matches against Slovenia and Malta. He made his under-21 debut in the match against Slovenia as France cruised to a 1–0 victory. Evra was forced to miss the match against Malta after suffering an injury in the win over Slovenia. The defender regularly appeared for the team through 2002–2004 as France attempted to qualify for both the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship and the football tournament at the 2004 Summer Olympics. France failed to qualify for both competitions, which resulted in the end of Evra's youth career.

Senior team

Early years

Evra earned his first call-up to the senior national team in May 2004 after coach Jacques Santini named him to the 31-man preliminary squad to participate in UEFA Euro 2004. Following the trimming of the squad to 23 players, Evra was not included and subsequently missed out on the competition. Following the European Championship, with former under-21 coach Domenech now coaching the team, Evra was called up to the senior team for its friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina on 18 August 2004. The defender admitted that he was "very proud" to have been called up to the team. Evra made…

Evra is a fast left-back known for his acceleration. Despite his size, he is physically strong and good in the air, allowing him to play as a centre-back on occasion. In addition to his physical attributes, he is a technically proficient player with good vision who is comfortable in possession and frequently advances into attacking positions as a wing-back, where he can deliver crosses to teammates. Earlier in his career, he also played as a winger earlier on in his career. He is also been noted for his leadership and tenacity on the pitch.

Family

Evra was born in Dakar, the capital city of Senegal. His father was a Senegalese national of Bissau-Guinean ancestry, while his mother, Juliette, was a Cape Verdean national. His father divorced three times and had 24 children; as of 2007, two of these children are deceased. One of his brothers, Mamadou, changed his name to Claude in order to get a job in France. Evra was raised in Catholicism and has said that his father held anti-Muslim views. Evra's father was a diplomat and, when Evra was a year old, moved to Brussels in Belgium to work at the Senegalese embassy. After over two years living in Belgium, when Evra was three, the family moved to France and settled in Les Ulis, a commune south of Paris. The family first settled in the local Bergeries neighbourhood before moving to the Hautes Plaines quarter shortly after. Evra was raised on Senegalese culture and values that quickly became "Westernised". At age 10, he returned to Senegal for a short period, describing the return as "not a good experience" primarily because he went back to the country to undergo circumcision. He had not returned to the country as of 2011. Ahead of the 2010 World Cup, Evra revealed he had suffered abuse from supporters of the Senegal national team for choosing to represent France internationally over his country of birth. Evra earned good marks in school. He was married to Sandra with whom he has a son, Lenny and a daughter, Maona. As of 2020, Evra and his wife are separated and…