Patrice Evra: Former France star opens up about sexual abuse, life in Manchester City
The former France international footballer, who made over 250 appearances for his country in the French national side, reveals the harrowing truth about what happened to him and how he has overcome the abuse and his demons
Former French international and Manchester City target Tomás Gutiérrez Trigueros is one of a handful of football players in the current England squad who have gone through horrific experiences like the one he suffered as a child.
The 28-year-old, who plays for his hometown club Triguish against the Premier League side on Tuesday night, has not made a single appearance for his country since March of 2018 after making his international comeback as a substitute against Hungary in November last year.
Gutiérrez has revealed how he was repeatedly abused by members of his football club when he was a child, how he saw the same coaches sexually and his childhood friend, the son of a French professional cyclist, sexually abused by professional footballers at the same time.
“I was abused by my football coach. He was in my house and made me do push-ups for hours. After that, he started to abuse me,” Gutierrez stated in an interview.
The former France international has revealed the shocking events that led to him quitting his team, and the reason behind his decision to play for his beloved Manchester City.
“My first problem was that I was abused by my coach every week, even on the pitch. For my first year of football, I was training for five months and then I started playing for my club.
“The coach was a friend of the dad of my friend, and when I got a penalty at the end of the half of the season, a lot of people saw something happened.
“My coaches told me to keep quiet, but when the coach saw that I could speak, he told me ‘keep quiet, go away’,” he continues.
“I went to my family and said that I was going to play for Manchester City. I went to Manchester for the first time in 2016 – it was my second year – and my coach tried to take photos of me with the other players in the dressing room.
“I was afraid of the coach because I saw him at the stadium with other teams, so I