Patrice Evra has set aside his differences with Luis Suarez, magnanimously praising the Barcelona forward as “The Best No.9”
Suarez and Evra were embroiled in one of the biggest controversies in the last few seasons, with Suarez being found guilty of racially abusing Evra during the striker’s time at Liverpool.
Suarez was consequently handed an 8-game suspension, and the two were bitter rivals on the pitch ever since the incident.
Suarez also infamously refused to shake Evra’s hand during a clash between Liverpool and Manchester United, an act which Sir Alex Ferguson branded a disgrace to Liverpool, and accused the striker of nearly inciting a riot. United went on to clinch a victory that game, and Evra himself had to be led off the field by officials and teammates after walking over to Suarez and blatantly celebrating the victory in the striker’s face.
The Uruguayan striker has since moved on to Barcelona, with Evra now plying his trade for Serie A champions Juventus.
The two have clearly also moved on from the incident, and according to Sky Sports, Evra has now publicly buried the hatchet with Suarez after the striker won the 2015-16 Golden Shoe award, by posting a picture of Suarez with the trophy on his Instagram page, accompanied by the message:
“In my Instagram there is only love and never hate!
“Luis – you’re a great player, the best No 9. Congratulations. I love this game.”
It is always nice to see respect between two players who were once rivals, and Evra has to be given great credit for his magnanimous attitude in this instance.
The two players could yet face each other again in this season’s Champions League, and this time there definitely won’t be any controversy after Evra’s olive branch to Suarez.
Suarez, who recently stated his desire to finish his career at Barcelona, has yet to respond publicly.
