Raphael Varane retires from international football

Manchester United defender Raphael Varane has announced his retirement from international football.

The 29-year-old retires from international football after making 93 appearances and scoring five goals for France. In 2018, Varane celebrated a World Cup triumph and was unlucky not to win it again in Qatar when France reached the final against Argentina.

It now transpires that World Cup final defeat was Varane’s last outing for his country.

Varane took to Instagram this afternoon to announce his retirement from international football. He also referred to the 2018 success in Russia as being one of the best moments of his life.

The centre-back took time to thank his coach, team-mates and the supporters.

 

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A post shared by Raphael Varane (@raphaelvarane)

His statement via Instagram read: “Representing our great country for a decade has been one of the greatest honours of my life.

“Each time I wore this special blue jersey, I felt immense pride. The duty to give everything, to play with my heart and to win every time we entered the field. I have been thinking about it for several months and decided that it was the right time for me to retire from international football.

“As a child, I remember following France ‘98, this team, these players who made us experience indescribable emotions. I dreamed of being our heroes and 20 years later I lived one of the best experiences of my life, the ones that made me really proud. We brought home the cup!

“I will never forget it. I still feel every single one of the emotions felt on that day, July 15, 2018. That was one of the most amazing and memorable moments of my life.

“This victory that we won all together would never have been possible without the support of Didier Deschamps, every member of the management and staff over the years, and my team-mates who have defended our shirt in every game we played.

“But more importantly, this victory would not have been possible without every single one of you supporting us along the way.

“Your fervour, the celebrations and the memories of our return to France will forever be etched in me.

“Even after the defeat in the final last year, you welcomed us as heroes when we returned. To each and every one of you, THANK YOU a thousand times!

“I will miss these moments with you for sure, but the time has come for the new generation to take over. We have a bunch of talented young players who are ready to take over, who deserve a chance and who need you.

“From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Rapha.”

Good news for United

This may seem selfish but Varane has picked up a lot of injuries since he signed for United – and, quite a few of them happened whilst he was away on international duty.

Varane is coming to the stage of his career that he needs to manage his body to his best of his ability.

The defender left nothing behind on the pitch in a France shirt.

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