Don’t Mess
with me!
The Manchester United left-back has the most daunting
job of all in the Champions League final next Wednesday.
He is the man charged with keeping Barca superstar
Lionel Messi quiet.
But if confidence counts for anything, he can look
forward to silencing the Argie forward for the second successive
season.
The French stopper is convinced he can stand alongside
any of the world’s great defenders — and feels he proved the point
with a rare BAD game in the Carling Cup final back
in March.
Evra had a shocker against Tottenham’s Aaron Lennon and
immediately the knives were out.
But the man himself felt if one bad game stood out so
much, it merely proved how well he had done in all the others.
Evra, 28, insisted: “I’ve played for United for three
years and had one bad game, so I was actually happy with the
criticism because it made me believe I’m the best left-back in the
world.
“When you’ve had one bad performance and people are
criticising you, it makes you proud. I said after that ‘OK, we will
see’.
“It wasn’t a good day in the final but I just played
one bad game, that’s all.
“But after that I think I showed my real form again and
you can see that now.
“Every year I think I have improved. I have been
honoured to be named in the World’s Best XI twice, the Premier
League XI twice — and things like that make you believe. But it’s
not easy.
“You can be the best left-back in the world but if you
play badly in the final, people will say you’re the worst.
“And of course I am playing against Messi, so it won’t
be easy.
“But I won’t prepare any differently against him,
because every day in training I am up against people like Rooney,
Berbatov, Ronaldo and Tevez, so you know what to do against big
players.
“The only thing is, against Messi you can stop him 10
times but if he passes you once and scores, people say ‘Evra played
a poor game’.
“I don’t know if he’s better this year but he’s scored
more goals and has probably been more important for Barcelona.
“I respect him but must make sure he doesn’t play well
again.”
Evra snuffed out the threat of Messi in both legs of
the semi-final 12 months ago en route to United’s Moscow
triumph.
Yet it has not all been plain sailing for the man who
cost £5.5million from Monaco — where he also tasted Champions
League glory — three years ago.
In December he landed a four-game ban for his part in
last season’s post-match bust-up with the Stamford Bridge ground
staff.
And after setting up United’s second in a 3-0 romp on
his return, ironically against Chelsea, he suffered a hamstring
strain which kept him out for another month.
Even now, the mere mention of it sees the usual smile
replaced by a tightening of the lips.
Evra insisted: “If you ask me about it for the next 10
years I’d still say I don’t accept it. I didn’t touch anyone but
got a four-game ban and it still hurts now.
“I touched no one, you can see that on any video in the
world.
“I was relaxed after meeting the FA and when the boss
told me ‘Pat, it’s four games’, I couldn’t believe it.
“My team-mates did a good job at a busy time with lots
of games.
“I was banned for a month, came back and set up the
second goal against Chelsea — and then got injured.
“Two months out was very, very difficult. For me it was
an injustice. OK, now it’s finished but it is still in my heart, I
still have pain about it.
“I remember every day in the gym thinking of coming
back against Chelsea. I was angry before the game and although I
played well, that ban killed me.”
Surely, then, after silencing the critics in the same
way he silenced Messi last year, another European triumph would be
the highlight of his career.
Don’t you believe it. That came more than a decade ago
when Evra chanced his arm in the nether reaches of Italy after
failing to make a mark in France.
He said: “I had a year at Marsala in Serie C and then
another at Monza before I went back to France and I have great
memories of Italy.
“They opened the door to my career and when I’m asked
what is my best moment, I don’t say the Champions League final or
things like that, I say it was in Italy.
“I was 17 and they were great to me. I remember when I
got my first tracksuit, looking at it in the mirror and feeling so
proud.”
