Former Manchester United star Patrice Evra recalled the time Lionel Messi reduced him to tears while sitting in his car.
It came after Messi steered Argentina to 2022 World Cup glory in Qatar at the expense of Evra’s native France.
Evra says he was left in tears after seeing France lose in the World Cup finalGetty
Evra, who was capped 81 times by Les Bleus, admits he was left emotional by Argentina’s dramatic penalty shootout win, spearheaded by the Inter Miami star.
France went into the final hoping to retain the trophy they won in Russia four-years earlier and despite falling 2-0 behind early on, Kylian Mbappe’s hattrick cancelled out goals from Angel Di Maria and a double from Messi, to force penalties.
Evra recently spoke to French broadcaster RMC Sport about the rollercoaster of emotions he went through that day and revealed he was in pain for three days.
“I watched the match live and I cried, I did not expect it,” said Evra. “France-Argentina, I tell you the truth, I went to my car and I cried.”
“For three days I was in pain,” he revealed. “And I said to myself ‘Patrice, I know you love the France team’… but it hurt me so much. And then, frankly, hats off to the France team.”
Evra spent ten years representing France, playing in two World Cups and three Euros.
The left-back captained his country at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa but his time in international football passed without a trophy.
Evra has often been drawn on the age-old debate of who the better player is between Messi and former Manchester United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Frenchman, much like Rio Ferdinand and Roy Keane, has made clear his preference for Ronaldo but made clear that it does not mean he dislikes Messi.
He said: “When fans say I prefer Cristiano over Messi, they think I hate Messi. I believe that if someone hates Messi, they don’t truly love football, but I love Messi!”
Messi and Mbappe, who were PSG teammates at the time, put on a show for the world
Messi struck twice in the final in Doha to hand Argentina their third World CupGetty
Messi finally got his hands on the biggest prize in footballRichard Pelham / The Sun
The 43-year-old insisted eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi could have further added to his collection if he adopted a similar work ethic to his great rival.
After telling Rio Ferdinand that he preferred Ronaldo to Messi, Evra explained his reasoning on the FIVE YouTube channel.
“I want to explain why I say Ronaldo every time,” said Evra. “It’s not because he’s our brother. It’s because I’m in love with work ethic.
“I feel like Messi, God just gave him a talent, and Cristiano had to work for it. He had the talent, but he had to work for it.
“If Messi had the same work ethic as Ronaldo, he would probably have like 15 Ballon d’Ors today.
“I’m just in love with people working hard, so that’s why I pick Ronaldo over Messi.”
