EVRA SAYS CHEAT HENRY DESERVES A STATUE
PATRICE EVRA believes there should be a statue erected to handball cheat Thierry Henry.
The Manchester United defender leapt to the defence of his team-mate and claimed Henry would have been a ‘traitor’ if he’d confessed to the referee he’d cheated Ireland out of a World Cup place.
Evra said: “Frankly, if he had done that, I would have told him: ‘Titi, you have betrayed us’.
“It’s madness. We are arguing about Henry when we should be erecting a statue to him.”
There are rumours in the French media that Henry is so distressed by becoming the target of global abuse he is considering quitting international football.
But Evra responded: “That’s nonsense. Titi is ready now for South Africa. The lad feels bad because his own people are attacking him, but he is solid.
“People will have gone on to something else in a few days. That’s why I thought: ‘Pat, keep your mouth shut or else you will get called arrogant again’.
“But I just don’t accept that people should attack our captain that way.
“For the world’s press to destroy him, no problem. But for we, in France, to join in, it’s not on. It has to stop.
“If Titi had got that goal ruled out by going to see the ref and we had lost, the same people would have talked about his ego.
“They would have said: ‘He is only thinking about himself, his image’.
Hypocrites
“That handball was an instinctive gesture. What sportsman could look at himelf in the mirror and say it couldn’t happen to him.
“Who would have gone to the ref to tell him? These people are hypocrites. We are going to South Africa and that’s all.
“When I think there are politicians who enjoy attacking us…they don’t even know whether the ball is round or oval. They’ll be the first to come and drink champagne in South Africa.
“I returned to Manchester with Irish players and they told me, themselves, that I should have had a penalty in the first game. People have forgotten that”.
Embarrassed
“Of course, I’m angry. Titi doesn’t deserve this. Who committed the error? The refereee, full stop. I spoke to Titi on Thursday. He is disappointed. It is hard that people should attack him in France.
“I was embarrassed at the end of the game, but just by our own performance. We were not good. We came very close to disaster.
“But we showed our guts. I’m not ashamed of anything. I am not going to sing, but I am not ashamed. There is injustice in football all the time.
“I’ll do a replay whenever you want. As long as it’s on PlayStation.”
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