Manchester United defender Raphael Varane said he had to make a lot of “sacrifices” in order to quickly recover from injury to be ready in time for the World Cup.
The 29-year-old unpacked how he thought his dreams of going to Qatar were dashed upon the setback suffered against Chelsea in October, but “was desperate” to try and salvage his place in the France squad. Varane came off the pitch in tears after sustaining the injury in last month’s 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.
The centre-half did not feature for United again before the break and faced a race against time to make the cut for Didier Deschamps’ squad. The France boss had initially hinted that he would not be taking any injured players to the World Cup, with the likes of Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante sidelined for the whole tournament.
READ MORE: United fans react to Varane return from injury
However, Varane was named in the initial 26-man squad before this reduced to 25 upon the thigh injury sustained by Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema ahead of the opening match with Australia. Varane didn’t feature in the 4-1 win over the Socceroos but returned to action for 75 minutes in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Denmark.
Speaking at a press conference in Doha, Varane explained the anguish he felt leading up to the World Cup as he battled to regain fitness.
“It was a difficult moment. At first I thought I had a more serious injury than it really was,” he admitted. “I thought it was over for the World Cup. A sportsman’s life has ups and downs, you have to pick yourself up and come back stronger.
“I went into fast-track recovery mode, I put in a lot of effort and made a lot of sacrifices to be ready in time. It was difficult but I’m making the most of every moment. I know exactly what it means to wear the France jersey. I was desperate to overcome [the injury].”
France's two group-stage wins meant they were the first team to qualify for the knockout phase of the World Cup with just Tunisia now to play in the group.
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