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 having functioned as a winger earlier on in his career. An aggressive, tactically intelligent, versatile and hard-working player, he is also renowned for his leadership and tenacity on the pitch. These attributes make him effective both offensively and defensively. Evra was born in Dakar, the capital city of Senegal, to a father of Guinean descent and Juliette, a Cape Verdean mother. He is one of a total of 25 children, although two are now deceased. Evra's father was a diplomat and, when Evra was a year old, moved to Brussels in Belgium to work at the Senegalese embassy. After over