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WORLD CUP 2014

WORLD CUP 2014

Evra fights his way out of French sin bin

The Manchester United defender is enjoying an international renaissance at World Cup 2014, four years on from his pivotal role when French players went on strike in South Africa.

Published: 29 June 2014 11:27 CEST
Evra fights his way out of French sin bin
Patrice Evra (L) and French coach Didier Deschamps (R) during training at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. AFP Photo/Franck Fife

Four years ago Patrice Evra faced deep trouble as a ringleader of striking French footballers. Today he is a moral force again in the dressing room and confidently holding off pretenders to his place on the pitch.

As France go into a difficult World Cup second round match with Nigeria on Monday, Evra may no longer be the captain but he will have a key role in coach Didier Deschamps' defence.

After a string of sparkling performances, French fans believe their team are winners again. Other countries will be looking to see if Les Bleus can confirm this against the African champions.

Evra, now 33, is lucky to be playing at the World Cup. In 2010, he was the captain who led a team protest after Nicolas Anelka was sent home for an ugly showdown with coach Raymond Domenech. France exited in disgrace and the Manchester United full back was suspended for five internationals.

His outspoken comments have also made headlines in France. He notably lambasted four television commentators, including former World Cup winner Bixente Lizarazu, as a "parasite" last October when they criticized a half-time team-talk he gave.

"If a journalist stings me, I know how to answer," Evra told a recent World Cup press conference which was dominated by his renewed influential role.

Evra has come back and though current coach Deschamps said the Senegalese-born player could never be his captain the respect between the two is clear to see and which dates back to when he played under him at Monaco and they reached the Champions League final in 2004.

"Nothing's ever certain with Deschamps," said Evra, who was switched to left back by Deschamps from his then favoured left wing role when at Monaco.

"That's why I like to work with him. He never gives you presents.

"He'll look you in the eyes and say, 'Pat, if you mess up I won't spare you'. I know that if I step out of line I'm out of this team."

Evra has in turn earned praise for the way he has shepherded younger players. The team's elder statesman stepped in to calm midfielder Paul Pogba when he appeared close to a red card against Honduras in their Group E game.

Other players also pay tribute to Evra's role in the dressing room building the team unity that is so important to France's style.

"Just because I am not skipper doesn't mean that I will not fulfil my role on the pitch or in the dressing room," he said,

And Evra has also been delivering on the pitch as well. Having already seen off the challenge of Gael Clichy for the left-back spot, he is now keeping 21-year-old Paris St Germain defender Lucas Digne on the sidelines.

Evra says he has the "impression of being eight years old" and he ran and tackled during France's 5-2 win against Switzerland as fast and as determinedly as the youngest in the team.

At Manchester United, Evra now faces competition from 18-year-old England starlet Luke Shaw. But he has signed for one more year with the English giants, indicating he is ready to fight for his place. The defender also scored with a screaming 25 metre shot against Bayern Munich in the Champions League in April.

Evra said that being captain sucked all the air out of him. "Now I still give everything for the others, but I get energy in return," he said.
 

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JOACHIM LÖW

After scoring dream goal for Germany, what happened to Mario Götze?

After his "goal of the century" against Argentina clinched the 2014 World Cup for Germany, Mario Götze looked poised to become "the German Messi" who would lead the national team for the next decade.

Published: 15 July 2018 08:26 CEST
After scoring dream goal for Germany, what happened to Mario Götze?

But the midfielder, who was just 22 when he came on as a substitute and hooked the ball into the net in Rio de Janeiro, has suffered a spectacular plunge from glory.

Poor form after an injury and then a debilitating metabolic disease led to him being left out of the Germany squad for the World Cup in Russia.

In a stark illustration of Götze's battles over the past years, electronics giant Samsung has traced his darkest moments in a commercial.

The video depicts him watching TV coverage of Germany's head coach Joachim Löw announcing he will not be going to Russia, and then traces his ups and downs on the field in the last few years, and ominous shots of a hospital corridor to illustrate his health struggles.

The ad then switches gears to show Götze fighting to get fit and win a place on the 2020 European championships team, with the slogan “what matters most is to keep trying”.

Löw, when he explained his decision to drop Götze from the 2018 team, said: “Mario himself knows that this season he did not deliver the performances that he would have liked to have delivered. “I hope that he will have a new beginning after the summer break and make a comeback,” said Löw adding: “I'm awfully sorry”.

Now 26, Götze joined Borussia Dortmund at the tender age of eight, where he quickly caught the attention of coaches who propelled him through the club's youth teams into the senior lineup.

He was just 18 when he earned his first national cap in November 2010.

Four years later, he came off the bench at the Maracana stadium with Löw's advice ringing in his ears — “show them you're better than Messi” — and with a deft volley moments later gave Germany its fourth World Cup.

  'A burden'

Löw subsequently admitted he feels partly responsible for the pressure that Götze had been under to prove he is still the player he was four years ago – and regrets the Messi comparison.

“That sentence was a spontaneous idea,” he said, adding: “Whether that was good idea in hindsight, I do not know.”

The coach added that the comment “didn't help Mario over the following few months” after the World Cup in Brazil as “he was always measured” by his impact in the final.

“If a player scores the decisive goal in the final at such a young age, it can be a burden later,” added Löw.

But for many, the slump in Götze's career had come even before that night of triumph in Rio de Janeiro.

His fateful decision in late 2013 to leave Dortmund for Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich meant he entered an ultra-competitive atmosphere with a coach – Pep Guardiola – who is better known for his tactical prowess than his pesonal contact with players. After a first season that was written off as a chance for him to adapt, Götze was called up for the 2014 World Cup.

Once he returned from Brazil, a groin injury meant the newly-crowned world champion was confined to Bayern's bench from October to January.

Once he got back on the pitch, Guardiola gave him just six minutes of play in the final stages of the club's Champions League campaign.

Götze finally returned to Dortmund in 2016, and Löw kept open a place for him in the squad for Russia.

But the metabolic illness struck and sidelined him for seven months, and an erratic season this year failed to convince.

Without Götze, Germany ended up crashing out of the World Cup, failing to progress beyond the first round for the first time since 1938.

Even as Germany struggle to pick up the pieces following its disastrous foray in Russia, Götze, with a series of setbacks behind him, says his own experiences can help his chastened national teammates.

“I might stumble sometimes but I'll never stop going. And neither should you,” he wrote on Twitter, with a link to the commercial detailing his darkestdays.

“I hope my story inspires you.”

 

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