France full-back Patrice Evra has bemoaned the impact of the Mathieu Valbuena sex-tape case on his country’s international squad.
Karim Benzema has been charged with complicity in an attempt to blackmail France team-mate Valbuena and participating in a criminal conspiracy.
The Real Madrid striker has been overlooked for the forthcoming friendlies against Netherlands and Russia, while Lyon midfielder Valbuena has also not featured for Didier Deschamps’ side since the scandal broke last November.
“Who is wrong, who is right? The only thing that I can say is that we shot ourselves in the foot twice, that is it, I do not need to add anything to that,” Evra told RTL.
“Both of them will remain my friends for life. The case is in progress, we’ll see.”
France’s 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 campaigns were beset by off-field controversy and squad unrest and, according to Evra, Deschamps is keen to avoid similar turbulence when they attempt to become European champions for a third time on home soil later this year.
“Didier says to us each time, there will not be any more stories [or scandals] that come out before these Euros,” he added.
“It will be time to leave us alone, so that we can think about what happens on the pitch, about working, about winning consistently.”
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