- Raphael Varane announced retirement from international football
- He is happy that he represented France for 10 years in international competitions
- He considers playing football on this level a big honour
Raphael Varane, a centre-back for Manchester United and France has publicly spoken about his retirement from international competition.
He retires 10 years after representing France nationally and helping his home team win the 2018 World Cup. Varane has a record of five goals in 93 matches he played for France between 2013 and 2022.
His final appearance came in the 2022 World Cup final, where Argentina defeated France on penalties. He says that one of the biggest honours of his life was playing for France because it gave him a huge sense of pride.
“Every time I wore this very special blue jersey I felt immense pride. The duty to give it all, play my heart out and win every time we put on the field,” BBC reports.
Speaking of his decision to retire at 29, Varane said it is something he thought over in the last months and decided to call in time in international football.
Rafel Varane is retiring from international football. Photo/Sky Sports
Varane is the most recent member of Les Bleus to announce his retirement following the World Cup. He joined United from Real Madrid in August 2021.
Hugo Lloris, the goalkeeper and captain for Tottenham, retired in January, three weeks after the 2022 FIFA World Cup held in Qatar. Yet, Varane was the favourite replacement for Lloris as the team captain.
The decision to retire wasn’t easy because he always followed the France 98 team when he was a young kid and hoped to make it to the team one day. And he did for a decade.
He adds that he once imagined himself as a French football hero and twenty years later, he had one of the best experiences of his football career. That was in 2018 when France won the World Cup after thrashing Croatia.
Varane notes that despite losing the World Cup trophy to Argentina in the 2022 Qatar World Cup, he still holds every emotion he had on July 15, 2018, when his team won the World Cup.
Raphaël Varane [We All Follow United]
He, however, termed it ‘a little regrettable’ given what he could do with the national team up until the World Cup. He demonstrated his leadership skills to the team from the first to the last match that France played.
Contrary to reports that his substitution at the World Cup finals against Argentina was due to an injury, Deschamps said it was not the case. Varane was substituted due to injury.
After a thrilling game that ended 3-3 before Argentina won 4-2 on penalties, Varane went to the ground in the 23rd and 113th minutes of extra time.
Varane, a defender for Manchester United, started all but one of France’s seven games in Qatar after overcoming an ankle ailment to be selected for Didier Deschamps’ side. Varane also overcame a strange illness that hit the French team to join the starting squad at Lusail Stadium at the World Cup finals.
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