Evra criticises French football fans

France left-back Patrice Evra on Tuesday lamented the “unbelievable” attitude of certain sections of the French public following abuse from the terraces during recent internationals.

The under-fire French are still reeling from their Euro 2008 flop when they failed to get past the first round and coach Raymond Domenech has come in for particular criticism as he tries to revive their World Cup fortunes with a win in Kaunas against Lithuania in 2010 qualifying on Saturday.

The two teams then meet again on April 1 at the Stade de France in Paris, a venue where fickle French fans have often barracked their own team despite winning their only global crown on the same pitch in 1998 and reaching the World Cup final under Domenech in 2006.

“In any case, we are always playing away from home,” complained the Manchester United defender.

“We play against Ireland (in France) and the stadium is full of Irish people, against Scotland it’s the same.”

At the Stade Velodrome in Marseille in February, fans whistled French players and Domenech in force and mockingly cheered the opposing Argentine players during the 2-0 defeat at the hands of Diego Maradona’s men.

“It is really unbelievable. You get the impression that sometimes it would be better if we told the public to stay at home and not come and support the players,” Evra said.

“I am not saying that is the solution but you (journalists) asked me the question and I answered honestly. But if the fans whistle a player after five minutes of the match…

“We have already spoken about it amongst the players. You come onto the pitch and get whistled already. You have to ask the public, maybe they don’t like football.”

France currently trail group seven co-leaders Serbia and Lithuania by five points, although Domenech’s side have played a match less as they approach a crucial period of their qualifying campaign.

France, Romania and Austria all have four points while the Faroe Islands are last with just one point.

“A good result from the two matches would be six points. I like to feel pressure to win, even if Lithuania are top of the group, but we respect them,” continued Evra.

When asked if France were in danger of failing to qualify, he replied: “We are not ready to think about that, but it is important not to allow teams to get too far ahead of us which would then make it difficult. For us to be comfortable, we need to win these two matches.”