Raphaël Varane is sounding the alarm. For all footballers like him who have suffered concussions.
At 31 years old, Raphaël Varane can boast of having already completed a busy career. If he gave up to the Blues two years ago already, with 93 caps under his belt, the Manchester United defender nonetheless remains a world reference in his position. With his faults and weaknesses that he readily admits today.
“ My experience allowed me to have the right reflexes, and I would like it to be useful to other players without them having to experience the same things as me. I put myself in dangerbreathes the former Lensois in an interview with L’Equipe. I don’t know if I’ll live to be 100, but I know I damaged my body. The dangers of heading must be instilled on all amateur and youth football fields. »
Raphaël Varane issues his warning to apprentice footballers, warning them against the still underestimated scourge of concussions today. “ I’ve had several, he reveals. When you look at three of the worst matches of my career, there are at least two before which I had suffered a concussion a few days earlier: against Germany in the quarter-finals of the 2014 World Cup (0-1 defeat of the French team), and with Real Madrid against Manchester City in the round of 16 of Champions League 2020 (defeat 1-2 on return). »
Alerts again this season
“ When you know that repeated concussions have a potentially fatal effect, you tell yourself that things can go very wrong. At the time, I was not a father, but today, at 30 and with three children, I think differently », admits the person concerned, who at the time wanted above all to play these extraordinary matches and did not have the necessary perspective to best understand the situation.
From now on, Raphaël Varane is more vigilant and no longer hesitates to step back if necessary. “ It happened to me this season at Manchester Unitedhe confides. During a match, I performed a series of headers, and the days that followed, I felt abnormal fatigue as well as severe eye fatigue, and I reported to the staff that I was not fit to play. train myself. They strongly recommended that I not play, I took a test from a doctor, the results of which I passed on to the staff, who meant that I did not play the following match. And when I felt better, I started training again. But if I hadn’t asked to take these tests, I probably would have been lined up a few days later… »
