French star wants a fairytale ending

with a place in the knockout stages guaranteed after lateshow wins over Romania and Albania.

“I will be happy if I can end my career winning something for my country,” said Evra. “I want to be a winner with France.”

Ma n a g e r Di d i e r Deschamps may opt to shuffle his pack in readiness for the knockout stages. But the former Chelsea midfield man made no apology for omitting Antoine Griezmann and Paul Pogba from the team that beat Albania.

The pair were highlighted as the possible stand- out stars for France before the tournament – but both were on the bench last week in Marseille.

Deschamps said of Griezmann: “I know he is not happy that he was on the bench. Neither is Paul Pogba.

“I know Griezmann would have rather started the game – but he came on and made the difference.”

Pogba also came on, but it was Griezmann who had the more significant impact with the crucial opening goal.

That, however, will not guarantee the Chelsea target a place tonight.

Nor Pogba, who is struggling to hit the heights he reached as a team-mate of Evra at Juventus.

And Deschamps has an explanation for that apparent discrepancy. “He is not playing in the same shirt, or same formation,” he said.

But while Pogba and Griezmann have so far failed to live up to their hype, the same cannot be said of Dimitri Payet.

And Deschamps is in no doubt about what has enabled Payet to become the French star of the tournament – the move to West Ham.

“Since he went there, he has become more consistent,” Deschamps said.

“He has always had ability and he has got lots of selfconfidence. And when he is faced with challenges, he is always up for the fight.”