Patrice Évra is one of the most atypical French footballers of the past twenty years. A player of great talent, the left-back – who has spent much of his career at Manchester United – has also been talked about a lot off the pitch. After a failed stint on the side of Olympique de Marseille, the 40-year-old former athlete has since refocused on his social networks where he feeds Internet users with often very offbeat videos.
A daily joy that unfortunately hides certain flaws, of which Thierry Henry’s former teammate with the Blues wanted to talk about in a book, I Love This Game . An autobiography in which Patrice Évra gives himself as rarely, evoking in particular the sexual assaults of which he was the victim when he was still a young teenager. His attacker was the principal of his college, which at the time had offered to host him three evenings a week, he who then lived in Les Ulis (Essonne), to avoid long trips to and from college. Only 13 years old, the fiancé of Margaux Alexandra will therefore have waited endless years to speak openly about it.
THE ADVICE OF A FATHER WHO STUCK WITH HIM
Interviewed by Léa Salamé on the airwaves of France Inter this Tuesday morning, Patrice Évra returned to this landmark episode of his childhood. The former footballer assures that he was not ready to talk about it so far and especially that he did not want to cry, he who was raised on the principle that crying is a sign of weakness. The journalist then slips him: “It was your father who told you that: crying is weak” . A sentence to which Patrice Évra nods, although he has since understood that it was quite normal to express his emotions.
A strong moment from the former footballer, who took his courage in both hands to tell his story.