After Hugo Lloris and Steve Mandanda, the central defender and vice-captain of the France team, Raphaël Varane (93 selections), world champion in 2018 and finalist of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, announced Thursday February 2 his international retirement at 29 years.
“I have been thinking about it for several months and have decided that it is the right time for me to retire from international football,” the current Manchester United player, who has been with the Blues since 2013, wrote on Instagram.
The France team loses a third pillar of the tricolor locker room after the departure of captain Hugo Lloris and his lining in the cage Steve Mandanda, who both said goodbye to the selection last month. Varane’s announcement is more surprising, insofar as he was applying to become the future captain of the Blues at the start of qualifying for Euro-2024 scheduled for the end of March. At 29, the former Real Madrid player stops his counter at 93 selections, ten years after his debut under the tricolor tunic, in March 2013.
“Immense pride”
“Representing our great country for a decade has been one of the greatest honors of my life. Each time I wore this special blue jersey, I felt immense pride,” he wrote in his message, where the reasons for his choice are not disclosed.
In his text, the player trained in Lens looks back on his pride in having won the World Cup more than four years ago in Russia, against Croatia in the final (4-2). ” I will never forget him. I still feel every single emotion I felt that day, July 15, 2018. It was one of the greatest and most memorable moments of my life,” he says.
After the 2022 World Cup final lost against Argentina (3-3, 4-2 on tab), on December 18, Varane gave no indication of his future in the France team. When announcing his choice, Thursday, February 2, he thanked his coach, Didier Deschamps, and his staff, as well as the supporters. “I will miss those times with you for sure, but now is the time for the next generation to take over. We have a group of talented young players who are ready to take over, who deserve a chance and who need you. »
“I respect his decision”
In a press release sent by the French Football Federation (FFF), Didier Deschamps reacted to the announcement of the international retirement of Raphaël Varane. “I respect his decision even if it may seem regrettable in view of everything he was able to do with the selection until the World Cup during which he behaved, from start to finish, like the leader that the ‘we know,’ said Didier Deschamps.
“Rapha was an effective relay, one of the guarantors of the collective and its values. After Blaise Matuidi, Steve Mandanda and Hugo Lloris, Raphaël is the fourth 2018 world champion to retire internationally”, notes the coach, recently extended until the 2026 World Cup.
“I cannot turn this page without a certain emotion, given the ties we have forged since August 2012. Like Hugo Lloris, he will have been, barring injury, on all my lists,” said Didier Deschamps, who drew up a parallel between Varane’s early decision, at 29, and his own international retirement as a player, just after Euro 2000 won by the Blues.
“Raphael believes he has reached the end of his adventure with the France team. I went through a somewhat similar situation to his, I understand his arguments,” “DD” continued of his vice-captain. “As our paths diverge, I wanted to salute his honesty, his unwavering commitment to the blue jersey. Raphael has played a pivotal role on and off the pitch for the past decade. I had a lot of fun coaching him,” he concluded.