Evra frustrated as Green Army invades Paris

PATRICE EVRA has expressed annoyance that Ireland are bringing a reported 25,000 fans to the World Cup play-off second leg at Stade de France tonight.

The Manchester United defender has also spoken of his frustration at being denied a penalty after he was brought down by Shay Given at Croke Park.

The French full-back also played down the bust-up between midfielder Lassana Diarra and Keith Andrews, insisting that he did not speak about the incident to his Manchester United team-mate John O’Shea.

Evra also hit back at the French press for criticising their performance following the game.

“People are telling me there will be 25,000 Irish fans in the stadium. I don’t know whose fault it is, but that is not normal,” Evra said.

“That annoys me. At the same time, I have faith in our supporters, we feel they are behind us. “One thing is for sure, it will be a great atmosphere on Wednesday night.”

Evra was surprised that France were not awarded a penalty after Given appeared to bring him down in the second half at GAA headquarters.

“It should have been a penalty,” he insisted. “The referee had a very good match but there was a penalty for the foul by their goalkeeper on me. He took both my feet and I would never have dived. I know it was a penalty. If I had simulated then, why didn’t I get a yellow card? I just think that the referee was perhaps put off by my little leap but I did that to avoid injury.”

Evra then turned his attention to his United team-mate O’Shea, who had warned him to expect ‘hell’ at Croke Park.

“O’Shea had promised me hell but he wasn’t talking about on the field: he has too much respect for the France team,” Evra told L’Equipe.

“He was talking about the atmosphere. Anyway it made me laugh more than anything else. It was a great atmosphere, really great, but we’re used to that kind of atmosphere.

“I saw John at the end of the match, he was a bit annoyed and that’s normal, and we just said, ‘See you Wednesday,’ that’s all. It’s not over yet, it’s not time to brag.”

And despite the decent away result for France, their home press were disappointed with the performance and their team came in for some criticism on their arrival back in France.

“I don’t understand how people can say we didn’t play very well,” he continued Evra. “What did they expect, champagne football? No, France won 1-0. If United win 1-0 people say, ‘Oh, what a great team.’ It should be the same for us.

“It’s a great performance to win in Dublin. When people say we already have one foot in South Africa, I reply, ‘My two feet are still here in Clairefontaine.’

“Obviously we are pleased, but the job is not yet done.”