Patrice Evra is taking nothing for granted against Iceland.
The veteran defender will take the field for France on Sunday night against the smallest nation to have ever qualified for for the European Championships, and won’t be approaching the game with the same mindset as England.
England manager Roy Hodgson skipped scouting Iceland to go sightseeing in Paris, and England coach Gary Neville reportedly celebrated drawing the country, seeing it as a favourable tie.
However, as you may have heard by now, England were humiliated by Iceland, losing 2-1.
Evra rebuked an ITV reporter last Sunday, who asked him about facing England before the Iceland game, and was full of praise for the Republic of Ireland after France’s 2-1 win in the last-16.
The former Manchester United defender stressed the importance of respecting an opponent, and was ultimately proved correct.
Evra has since taken a pop at England’s mindset going into the Iceland game, and praised the “magicians” of Iceland.
“It worries me that England didn’t respect Iceland because a lot of people have underestimated smaller nations,” the 35-year-old said.
“It was logical England should win but every match is 50-50 and Iceland have been magicians at these Euros. After our win against the Republic of Ireland, English people were asking me about playing England in the next round. I said ‘France is in the quarter-finals but England is not there yet.’
“What annoys me is that people concentrated so much on where England had gone wrong and that took credit away from Iceland’s performance that night. You should never underestimate your opponent.”
