PARIS, APRIL 2: Manchester United and former French international defender Raphael Varane on Tuesday called for better concussion care for players after several scares during his career.
"When we look at three of the worst matches of my career, there are at least two before which I had a concussion a few days earlier," Varane told French sports daily LEquipe.
Varane pointed to Frances 1-0 quarter-final defeat to Germany at the 2014 World Cup and a 2-1 Champions League last 16 second leg loss while playing for Real Madrid in 2020 against Manchester City.
A few days before the Germany game the 30-year-old said he took a ball to the side of the head during a last-16 match against Nigeria.
"At the start of the second half, theres a cross where I take the ball on one of my temples, and I run into the net of the opponents goal. I finished the match but I was in autopilot mode.
"The staff wondered if I was fit (for the Germany game)," continued Varane, who ended his international career after France were defeated in the final of the 2022 World Cup.
"I was weakened, but ultimately I played and rather well... What well never know is what would have happened if I had taken another knock to the head.
"When you know that repeated concussions potentially have a fatal effect, you tell yourself that it could go very wrong.
"As footballers used to playing at the highest level, we are accustomed to pain, we are a bit like soldiers, tough guys, symbols of physical strength, but these (concussions) are symptoms which are quite invisible.
"We need to talk about the dangers linked to second impact syndrome, and to the repetition of knocks because of head play," he added. —AFP
