“They were mean”

By Elsa Girard-Basset | Web journalist

While the French team reached a turning point in 2004, between the end of a historic generation and the emergence of new stars, Zinédine Zidane and Bixente Lizarazu would have been at the heart of friction in the locker room. In any case, this is what Patrice Evra assures, assisted by his former teammate Jérôme Rothen.

It's an occurrence as old as time in sport: generational conflicts within a locker room can sometimes create delicate situations for coaches to manage. In this case, it is two players unaccustomed to controversy of this type who were targeted some time ago: Zinédine Zidane and Bixente Lizarazu.

Patrice Evra and Jérôme Rothen talk about the 1998 alumni

Guest of Jérôme Rothen's show on RMC, it was Patrice Evra who was the first to speak out about his frosty relationship with “Liza”, to whom he succeeded as left-back in the French team:

I know Liza tried to lie and said we never had a draft together. Jérôme can attest to this, it was just before the Champions League final. And there Thierry (Henry), although I had never seen Lizarazu, told him that the next generation was there, says Evra on RMC. Liza gives me a look and says, “Did they tell you I retired?” »

I arrived, I said hello to him, he never greeted me. I have no problem with Liza. Plus we play the same position, and I really respect his enormous career in the French team or in club with Bayern. But now, Thierry made a joke in bad taste. This established… (he cuts) Then, I never spoke with Liza.

For his part, Jérôme Rothen also experienced some disagreements with the former, and in particular Zinédine Zidane, who insulted him during a Champions League match between the Monegasques and Real Madrid. Enough to definitively put a brake on its relationship with the myth:

I had a few years before (in 2003, editor's note) my arrival among the 1998 world champions, and there were some who were not nice.

A point of view confirmed by Patrice Evra, who made his first selections in 2004, and who agreed with his former partner at AS Monaco:

Zidane was doing his treatments, and Jérôme arrived to say hello. Zizou didn't even calculate it! I said to myself: “Welcome! » It's true that they were mean.

Yeah, there was nastiness. When young players arrive, I take them under my wing and I advise them. There was a side to them: “We are the French team, and there is no place for you”.

Even the most beautiful generations have not been spared some tension in the locker room, and the words of Patrice Evra and Jérôme Rothen attest to this. However, no one can deny that Bixente Lizarazu and Zinédine Zidane have left their mark on the history of the blue jersey, notably by signing the incredible World Cup-Euro double in 1998 and 2000.