Patrice Evra participant in UEFA Euro 2012
Return to the national team and Euro 2012
As a result of being captain, Evra bore the brunt of the criticism. However, despite the public ridicule, Evra maintained his stance regarding his future with the national team, stating, "I can’t see my future without the France team." On 17 March 2011, he was called up to the national team by new manager Laurent Blanc for the first time since the 2010 World Cup. He had been eligible to return to the team since the previous month after serving his five-match suspension, however he was not called up to the team by Blanc, with the manager citing "sporting reasons" as the reason. Evra made his return to the team on 25 March in the team's Euro 2012 qualifying match against Luxembourg. He started the match and played the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 win. Four days later, Evra appeared on the bench in his first match at the Stade de France since the World Cup, against Croatia. After appearing regularly in qualifying for Euro 2012, on 29 May 2012, he was named to the 23-man squad to participate in the finals of the competition. France were eliminated in the quarter-finals following a 2–0 defeat against eventual champions Spain.
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