Patrice Evra (Philippe Christanval) to win the award. He was also named to the organisation's Ligue 1 Team of the Year. Despite missing out on playing in UEFA Euro 2004, Evra endured a tumultuous summer in which the player was linked with moves with Manchester United in England, and Juventus and Internazionale in Italy. Despite offers, Evra remained at Monaco. On 24 September 2004, he signed a one-year contract extension with the club until 2008. In the season, Evra was a regular appearing in a career-high 52 matches scoring one goal and assisting on seven as Monaco reached the semi-finals in both
Patrice Evra resulted in Evra leading a player protest against the decision on 20 June, in which the players refused to train. Prior to leading the revolt, Evra had got into a verbal argument with national team fitness coach Robert Duverne. The strike was denounced by the FFF as well as French government officials. The following day, the players returned to training without incident. As a result of the mutiny, Evra was stripped of the captaincy and benched for the team's final group stage match against hosts South Africa. France lost 2–1 and were eliminated from the competition. Following the competition, former