The central defender and vice-captain of the France team Raphael Varane (93 selections), world champion in 2018 and finalist of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, announced this Thursday his international retirement at 29 years old.
“I have been thinking about this for several months and have decided that it is the right time for me to retire from internationalwrote on Instagram the current Manchester United player, figure of the Blues since 2013. Representing our great country for a decade has been one of the greatest honors of my life. Each time I wore this special blue jersey, I felt immense pride. The duty to give everything, to play with my heart and to win every time we entered the field.“
The French team loses a third pillar of the tricolor locker room after the departure of the captain Hugo Lloris and his double in goal Steve Mandandawho both bid farewell to the selection last month.
Raphaël Varane’s announcement is more surprising, insofar as he was applying to become the future captain of the Blues at the start of qualifying for Euro 2024 scheduled for the end of March.
