Patrice Evra has unpacked how France’s World Cup final loss may impact Raphael Varane upon his Manchester United return.
The defender was given an extra week off following the defeat and Lisandro Martinez has also been given the same amount of time off following Argentina’s triumph. Both players are unlikely to feature against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday in United’s first Premier League game post-tournament.
Varane, who lifted the World Cup in 2018, almost missed the finals due to a knee injury picked up against Chelsea in October. After missing the opening game, the 29-year-old featured in every match for Les Bleus during their campaign.
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He was helped off with exhaustion during extra time in the final. The Manchester Evening News understands that nothing more was at play, and there are no injury concerns. Evra himself suffered defeat in a major final with France.
The former United left-back was part of the side that lost 1-0 to Portugal in their Euro 2016 showdown. Speaking on Amazon Prime while covering Brentford against Tottenham, he detailed how those who suffered heartache in Qatar may find it difficult to readjust.
"It’s never easy, we always need time, we’re only human beings,” he said. “People always think of the physical side but psychologically I think it’s really hard.
“[Losing] the [Euros] final in 2016, some players like me want to get back straight away, train and work up, but after you always pay the price later because you need time to grieve. Sometimes people think we are robots, but we are still human beings."
Speaking shortly after the World Cup final defeat, Varane relayed his desolation. “Of course we’re very disappointed, we gave everything,” he said. “We had to face a lot of obstacles throughout the competition, we never gave in.
“We could have won, I’m very proud of this group and to be French. We keep our heads high. We pushed and we believed up until the end. We nearly turned the game around, after starting badly.
"It was a sinuous journey but there was a mental strength in this team, a lot of heart. We’re disappointed but there’s a lot of pride."
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