France defender Lucas Hernandez reportedly considered retiring from football following his injury in their opening game of the World Cup, only to be talked around by his mum.
Full-back Hernandez sustained an ACL injury in the early stages of the holders' clash with Australia on Tuesday, as he strained to block Matthew Leckie's cross, which Craig Goodwin scored from.
After lying prone on the turf for several minutes, the 26-year-old Bayern Munich star was replaced by his younger brother Theo, who plays for AC Milan.
Bayern confirmed on Thursday that Hernandez had undergone successful surgery on the injury, but he isn't expected to play again for his club in remainder of the 2022-23 season.
"Lucas Hernandez was successfully operated on by Prof. Christian Fink in Innsbruck on Thursday evening after rupturing his cruciate ligament in his right knee," said Bayern.
"The FC Bayern defender will commence his rehabilitation in Munich in the coming days. He suffered the injury in the France national team’s World Cup opener against Australia."
The success of the surgery is now said tor have improved Hernandez's mood somewhat, but French sports newspaper L'Equipe, via Get French Football News, report that he was so upset about the extent of the injury that he considered ending his career there and then, only for a conversation with his mother to make him change his mind.
Hernandez started at left-back in France's 4-2 win over Croatia in the 2018 World Cup final in Russia, and a year later he left Atletico Madrid for Bayern Munich having played 110 games in the Spanish capital.
He's featured 107 times in all competitions for Bayern, winning three Bundesliga titles and the Champions League in 2020.
He was replaced by his brother Theo for France's second World Cup group match against Denmark, with the 25-year-old set to maintain his place for the rest of the tournament.
France are now down to 24 fit players for the tournament after manager Didier Deschamps opted against calling up a replacement for injured Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema, who was ruled out on the eve of the World Cup starting.
Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante are also missing for France through injury, while Christopher Nkunku pulled up in training shortly before the tournament began. Squad players Mike Maignan and Presnel Kimpembe are out as well, leaving Deschamps with a problem to solve.
One positive for Deschamps is the return of Manchester United defender Raphael Varane, who returns to the side in place of Liverpool's Ibrahima Konate after missing the win over Australia.
"He could have played, he was ready, he was fit. We discussed it with him," Deschamps told reporters after the Australia win.
"He was fit for the first game and he's fit for the second game, we will have to make that decision. The main thing is that he's fit and ready."
