Former Premier League Manchester United and France national team captain Patrice Evra has recently become very optimistic about the future of soccer in China, believing that the country could become a world soccer power.
Evra, 41, was born in Senegal and raised in France. He has played for Monaco, Manchester United, Juventus and other European soccer clubs and was selected for the French national team. Evra was recently in Lisbon, Portugal for the annual Online Summit.
Despite the Chinese men's soccer team's failure to reach the World Cup finals in Qatar, Evra is optimistic about the future of Chinese soccer.
"China has the potential to become one of the world's great soccer powers." He said, "I think they still need support, including finding a more suitable coach. The Chinese team should have its own characteristics. When I was a player, I played against China many times. They were very strong. We played a warm-up match against China in 2010 and we lost. The Chinese team has very good players. Believe me, they know how to play soccer is not easy."
Evra has been paying more attention to Chinese soccer and is familiar with some of the related reform policies. "I hope more Chinese players come to play in Europe so we can understand China better and find (good) Chinese players. Culturally speaking, Chinese people are very shy, but that's how the world is. The more silent you are, the more people can misunderstand you. They will say you are not good. In fact, they don't know you at all."
La Liga President Javier Tebas happened to be here during the interview with Evra. He told Xinhua, "Chinese soccer has great potential. I think China should start with some basic things and improve little by little."
Evra retired and dedicated himself to public service. As a child he roamed the streets begging for survival, so he cares deeply about the condition of children. "I don't miss soccer. Coach Ferguson (former Manchester United manager) says to me every day: come to Patrice, come back to Manchester United. What I'm doing now is more important than soccer. I'm impacting the world and inspiring people and that makes me happier than soccer." Evra said.
