Patrice Evra Evra was named to the National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) Ligue 2 Team of the Year in the left-back position. Following the season, Evra was recruited by Nice's Derby de la Côte d'Azur rivals Monaco. Despite wanting to play as a left winger again, Evra was advised by manager Didier Deschamps he would only play as a left-back. Evra has since credited Deschamps for allowing him to become a better defender after initially describing the role as being not fun. Evra was inserted into a back four that consisted of centre-backs Rafael Márquez and Sébastien Squillaci and right-back Franck
Patrice Evra the team. To mitigate his absence, Domenech moved Abidal into the centre-back position, allowing Evra to take over as starting left-back. In the team's first competitive match since Euro 2008, against Austria, Evra provided the assist for France's only goal scored by Sidney Govou in a surprising 3–1 defeat. During the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, Evra participated in ten of the team's 12 matches, which included both legs in the team's playoff round win over the Republic of Ireland. On 26 May 2010, Evra captained the national team for the first time in a friendly match against Costa