The day after the announcement of his international retirement, Raphaël Varane delivers the first elements of explanation of a decision which could challenge, at only 29 years old.
As we revealed on Friday, a form of physical and psychological wear and tear took hold of the defender of the Blues (93 selections) due to the repetition of club and selection matches.
"I gave everything physically, psychologically," said the 2018 world champion in an excerpt from an interview with Canal Football Club which will be broadcast on the encrypted channel on Sunday.
The very top level is a washing machine.
we play all the time, we never stop.
We have overloaded schedules, we play non-stop.
Right now I feel like I'm suffocating and the player is eating the man.
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🚨 Event interview with @raphaelvarane after the announcement of his international retirement 🗣️
It will be in the Canal Football Club, Sunday at 7:30 p.m. on CANAL+ 🔜 pic.twitter.com/GuQoafOVf8
- CANAL + Foot (@CanalplusFoot) February 3, 2023
His 93rd selection against Argentina, on December 18 in a World Cup final that went down in history and which he played until the 113th minute, will remain his last.
The tricolor defense manager aspires to devote more time to his family.
Trained in Lens and turned professional in 2010, he has since built up a huge track record.
In club, at Real Madrid, as in the France team, he collected trophies with in particular a World Cup and four Champions Leagues (he did not play in the final in 2016).
The Mancunian has, moreover, not been spared in recent years by physical concerns.
Read alsoInternational retirement of Varane: Kylian Mbappé, natural candidate for the armband with the Blues
"Representing our beautiful country for a decade has been one of the greatest honors of my life," he wrote on his Instagram account on Friday.
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.
I have been thinking about it for several months and decided that it was the right time for me to retire from international football.
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