Patrice Evra Opens Up On Moment When He Was Ready To Attack Luis Suarez In Manchester Street

Patrice Evra has opened up about the moment he held back a desire to confront Luis Suarez in a central Manchester street.

Back in 2011, the former Liverpool striker was accused of using a racial slur against Evra during a match against Manchester United at Anfield.

Suarez later received a £40,000 fine from the FA for his actions, as well as an eight-match ban.

Despite the ruling, Liverpool later supported Suarez in the aftermath of the incident by warming up for a Premier League game at Wigan wearing T-shirts featuring a picture of Suarez on the front and his name and number on the back.

The club also released a statement saying they were "shocked and angered" at the FA verdict.

Suarez

Since the incident took place, former Manchester United left-back Evra has revealed he felt hurt seeing Liverpool players warm up in t-shirt's supporting the Uruguayan striker.

And the Frenchman has spoken more about Suarez in a recent podcast.

The 40-year-old opened up about the time he spotted Suarez walking the streets of Manchester, and was ready to approach him until he saw his wife and children behind him.

"One day I was walking in Manchester in Deansgate and my brother said: 'oh it's Luis Suarez over there'. I was with two of my brothers," Evra told the Diary of a CEO podcast

"I looked at him and I was like 'that's it, this is the moment'.

'And he walked, and behind him I saw his kids and his wife. And I turned my back. I was like 'if you do something to him you can't do this in front of his family'.

"So I don't regret it because I think it would have ended up bad. I did nothing that day."

Image credit: PA

In regards to the incident at Anfield in 2011, Evra says he had to restrain himself from attacking Suarez on the pitch.

"I was proud of myself because I was talking to myself - 'should I punch him? But Patrice, this is Liverpool vs Manchester, all the kids are watching this game, people won't understand'.

"The second half, it was a process, I was like talking to myself "don't do it". You know when you have like a devil and an angel "don't do it, do it, don't do it, do it". All the game. I wasn't in the game.

"After the game, I just sat and Ferguson saw me and was like 'Patrice what's the matter? You had a good game'.

"David de Gea said 'Suarez called him a ne**o'.'

He added: "Even on the pitch I said to the referee 'did you hear what he just say, he call me with the n-word' - but the ref replied 'play, play, play, we're going to deal with that later'."

Image credit: PA

Evra later revealed that he shook Suarez's hand in the 2015 Champions League final between Juventus and Barcelona.

He added: "I was talking with Neymar, he (Suarez) passed, he come he shook my hand, he says 'you ok?'. I said 'I'm ok'.

"So no beef, but we're definitely not going to go on holiday."

The former United full-back went to state he has since forgiven the Atletico Madrid forward. 'Yes. It's about education," he said. "No one is born a racist person.'

Topics: Liverpool, Football, Manchester United, Patrice Evra, Premier League

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare is a writer at SPORTbible. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pele, Carles Puyol and Tim Henman. He dabbles in all things sport but football is his biggest passion. He was once hit in the head by a wayward strike from Nicky Butt and lived to tell the tale.

@jackkenmare_