MANCHESTER UNITED legend Patrice Evra has revealed he wanted to play for Senegal instead of France.
In a visit to Ghana where he met President Nana Akufo-Addo, Evra revealed he REGRETTED playing for France.
He told Sports Brief: “If I could go back, I would choose to represent my home country, Senegal, instead of France.
“I was born in Dakar but grew up in France.
“One of the painful lessons I learnt with this choice is when you play good and win, you are celebrated as a French; when the team lose, you are singled out as Senegalese.”
Many members of the French national team have African origins, due to post-World War Two labour policies which saw an influx of workers from French colonies to ease a labour crisis.
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An astonishing 87% of the French 2018 World Cup winning team was made up of players who had roots based in African countries.
While Evra was not involved in that successful campaign, he was a player who fit this category, and he has championed player choice for who they represent at the international stage in the modern day.
He said: “We need to let this young generation know that they can still succeed playing for their original countries.”
Many players in England’s own set-up share dual nationality with other countries, with the likes of Michail Antonio and Wilfried Zaha ultimately choosing to represent Jamaica and the Ivory coast respectively.
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Now 41 years old, Evra was one of the world’s best left-backs during his playing career and won a whole host of accolades at club level with the likes of Man Utd and Juventus.
However, despite making the 2016 European Championships final, Evra was not able to replicate this with France.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
