Football
Kevin Palmer 9y

Patrice Evra will shake Luis Suarez's hand, despite no apology for 2011

Juventus defender Patrice Evra has admitted he never received an apology from Barcelona forward Luis Suarez following their protracted bust-up in October 2011, but he claims to have no lingering animosity towards the Uruguayan ahead of their meeting in Saturday's Champions League final.

Evra was Manchester United captain and Suarez was Liverpool's star striker when the pair became embroiled in an infamous on-field clash at Anfield, with the ramifications from their clash rumbling on for several months.

Suarez later admitted at a Football Association inquiry that he used the word "negro" directed at Evra. The striker was handed an eight-game suspension and a £40,000 fine for the incident.

The incident sparked ill-feeling between the two clubs and a lingering bitterness between the players involved, which spilled over into their next meeting as Suarez refused to shake Evra's hand at Old Trafford.

Now the football fates have conspired to ensure Evra and Suarez will go head-to-head in the biggest club game in European football, with the Frenchman insisting he does not hold any lasting grudges against his Uruguayan rival.

"I don't want his apologies," Evra said. "It doesn't matter, it's no problem for me. He will never be my best friend, but this is not a problem. When we are going to play the game, I will shake his hand.

"The past is the past. I am really proud of my colour and I will shake his hand like I did with Manchester when we play against Liverpool. My game is against Barcelona, it is not against Luis Suarez."

Evra went on to claim he was proud of his conduct throughout the spat with Suarez, and insisted he was not pleased to see the striker punished for the language used during their heated exchanges.

"I didn't say to the judge [at the FA hearing] that Luis Suarez is a racist person," Evra continued. "I just say in that moment he have some racist comment.

"I didn't go there and say now 'you have to punish him, he is a racist person'. I don't know that because I don't know Luis Suarez very well to talk about it.

"I controlled myself, I behaved myself, because in that moment I remember, it was like a voice inside my head, 'don't do nothing stupid, don't do nothing stupid, don't punch him or do something stupid because a lot of people are watching this game'. You have to show the example.

"If I do something wrong, maybe today I won't be playing the final of the Champions League. I will get maybe a three-year ban or something like that. Sir Alex Ferguson after the game, and all my teammates, they saw my face. I was in another galaxy in that moment.

"A lot of things were happening in my head. It was a really difficult day, but I was really proud of myself."

Evra will look to win his second Champions League title in Berlin following his success with Manchester United in the competition in 2008, while Suarez will aim to win Europe's biggest prize for the first time in his career as Barcelona aim to complete a trophy treble after already collecting the Spanish title and Copa dey Rey.

^ Back to Top ^