World Cup 2018: Patrice Evra sparks backlash for 'patronising' applauding of Eni Aluko’s analysis

Former West Ham player branded 'misogynistic'

Patrice Evra has been accused of being “patronising” and “misogynistic” after his reaction to Eni Aluko‘s analysis of the World Cup.

Evra, a former West Ham player who plays for the French national team, appeared alongside Aluko, who has made more than 100 appearances for England, and the former Sweden Striker, Henrik Larsson, as a pundit on ITV before the Costa Rica vs Serbia match.

Evra appeared surprised after Aluko assessed Costa Rica’s abilities and heaped praise on her “very good” analysis.

He then started to clap for his fellow pundit, who plays as a forward for Juventus.

After Aluko provided more analysis of the World Cup in Moscow, the presenter of the show, Jacqui Oatley, asked Evra: “Are you going to sit here applauding Eni’s punditry all day?”

Evra replied: “This is just amazing, I think we should leave Henri, because she knows about more football than us! I’m really impressed you know.”​

The saga prompted criticism on Twitter – with people labelling Evra “condescending” and saying he seemed visibly shocked at Aluko’s astute football commentary.

Others argued he had failed to do adequate research on the discussion and Aluko had substantially outperformed him.

“Patrice Evra isn’t at all patronising when he applauds the brilliant @enialu for having done some serious research on the teams and players on which she’s commenting. This an example of women having to out-perform men to be considered even close to equal,” said one Twitter user, Brian Lawton.

Nick Whittaker said: “The awkward moment Patrice Evra applauds Eni Aluko after she gives her punditry. No wonder women feel like they have to battle when talking football when you get patronised like that!”

Critics drew attention to the fact Aluko has a first class honours degree in law.