Presnel Kimpembe (left) and Raphaël Varane face Portuguese midfielder Ruben Neves during the Euro 2020 Group F football match at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, June 23, 2021. FRANCK FIFE / AFP
“As footballers used to playing at the highest level, we are used to pain, we are a bit like soldiers, tough guys, symbols of physical strength, but these are symptoms that are quite invisible. » Raphaël Varane speaks with knowledge of the facts. In an interview with The teamTuesday April 2, the Manchester United defender and former French international calls for better treatment of concussions, revealing that he himself suffered them on several occasions.
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“When you look at three of the worst games of my career, there are at least two before which I had a concussion a few days earlier”he explains, evoking the quarter-final of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil (1-0 defeat against Germany) and a round of 16 second leg of the Champions League, in 2020, with Real Madrid (2-2 defeat). 1 against Manchester City).
A few days before the mentioned Blues meeting, Raphaël Varane suffered a shock in the previous round against Nigeria: “At the start of the second period, there is a cross where I take the ball on one temple, and I finish my race in the net of the opponent’s goal. I finish the match but I am in “autopilot” mode. »
“A very competitive environment”
“The staff wondered if I was suitable” before facing the Mannschaft, continues the player, who ended his international career after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. “I was diminished, but ultimately I played and quite well (…) What we will never know is what would have happened if I had suffered another head impact. When you know that repeated concussions have a potentially fatal effect, you tell yourself that things can go very wrong. »
However, he analyzes, “we are in a very competitive environment, in which not playing because of a little pain can go badly”.
“We need to talk about the dangers linked to second impact syndrome [deuxième traumatisme subi avant le rétablissement total après la première commotion]and the repetition of shocks because of the head game »he concludes, inviting us to limit these to training to reduce the risks.
In England, ten former professionals and the families of seven others who are now dead are suing several governing bodies of British football, which they accuse of having “always been perfectly aware” risks of brain injuries to which the players were exposed, without having taken the necessary measures.
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2024-04-02 08:44:29
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