Source: Eurosport
Evra aims blast at Les Bleus fans
France defender Patrice Evra has slammed Les Bleus fans, claiming their lack of support for the national team shows a lack of football culture.Evra and his team-mates have been roundly criticised since a disastrous Euro 2008 campaign which saw them eliminated at the group stage after failing to win a match.Matters came to a head during France's friendly defeat by Argentina last month when Les Bleus were jeered by their own fans at the Stade Velodrome and Evra, who was sidelined for the match, has hit out at the boo boys."I was disappointed to see the fans shouting 'ola' when the Argentinians were doing their tricks," he told France sports daily L'Equipe."(Manchester United team-mate and Argentina striker Carlos) Tevez, when he came back from international duty, told me he felt as if he was playing in Buenos Aires."There were (Diego) Maradona and Argentina flags in the stands. I still haven't seen a (Thierry) Henry flag or a (Franck) Ribery one at the Stade de France."The supporters need to be behind us. If they want us to get to the World Cup they will need to do something different."Evra added: "We don't have the sporting culture of Brazilian, Argentinian, Italian or English fans."When I arrived in England, I had the impression that I was doing a new job. Because of the impact of the stadiums and the supporters...there it's a religion."We don't lose on purpose, nobody does that, we all go out there to win."In three years at United I have just lost two games on the trot for the first time, I understand that we have to win the next game. But even when we've lost, they've still applauded us, not booed."Evra admits the players have been affected by the jeers and has urged the fans to get behind every single member of the France camp ahead of the crucial double header against Group Seven rivals Lithuania."It certainly affects us," he continued. "We talk about it between ourselves."I'm at a great club. When you have 76,000 people behind you, it gives you a massive boost, but if you hear boos from the fifth minute, you can't feel the same thing."There could be some lasting bitterness following our catastrophic European Championships, but you have to move on. There's a World Cup in Africa that's coming up."[LNB]
