Manchester United defender Raphael Varane urged players to take the side effects of concussion more seriously after revealing that he has played some of the biggest matches of his career with a head injury.
Varane, 30, has only featured in 29 matches so far and the former French defender confirmed that he asked the United medical staff to assess his condition on several occasions after which it was decided he shouldn’t play.
The 2018 World Cup winner revealed some of the biggest matches of his career, namely France vs Germany in the 2014 World Cup quarter-final and Real Madrid vs Manchester City in the 2020 Champions League round of 16 match.
“I don't know if I will live to be 100, but I know that I have damaged my body,” Varane said in an interview with L’Equipe.
The 30-year-old stated that in the 2014 World Cup, he does not remember much about the campaign after the round of 16 match against Nigeria after heading the cross.
“I finished the match but I'm in ‘autopilot’ mode. If someone had spoken to me at that time, I don't even know if I would have been able to respond,” he added.
Talking about the match against Germany where he captained the French team, he said: “I was not in my normal state and so I was taken care of. I had lost weight because I was dehydrated, I was out of shape but played because it was a World Cup quarter-final.”
Varane, who has a seven-year-old son, voiced his concerns for the young players stating that underage players shouldn’t be allowed to head the ball but he admitted that such issues aren’t discussed among the officials as footballers as “used to pain”.
“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,” he added.
