The invisible side of football: the Man United defender told how he finished the match on “autopilot” | Sports

The 30-year-old footballer, who spoke to L’Equipe, said that he had played several matches in which he felt the effects of the head injury. He identified this as a huge problem in modern football.

R. Varane, who ended his career in the French national team a year ago, revealed that in 2014 he finished the round of 16 of the World Championship on “autopilot”.

“If someone had said something to me, maybe I would have been able to answer,” said R. Varane.

With a head injury, he said that he also competed in the match between Real Madrid and Manchester City in the Champions League of the 2019-20 season, when he was still defending the honor of the “royals”.

“I wanted to punch myself in the face,” the defender recalled in the warm-up.

R. Varane has left the field several times already this season due to minor concussions caused by playing with the ball with the head.

“I heard about brain microconcussions for the first time this season, when specialists came to talk to us about it. Often, as a player, you don’t understand what happened, you don’t even think about research.

Recently this season I had to play with my head a lot during matches, I felt incredibly tired for several days after the match, there was a problem in my eyes.

I reported this to the doctors, who advised me not to play. I studied, which resulted in missing one more match,” said the football player.

According to R. Varane, there is too little talk about head injuries and their risks in the football world.

“At the highest level, we are used to pain, we are like warriors, strongmen, symbols of physical strength, but some symptoms are almost invisible.

If your leg hurts, you’re limping, everyone can see it. With head injuries you feel weak saying you are tired or your eyes are getting dark. So, first of all, you think that it will pass,” said the Man United player.

R. Varane said that he does not allow his seven-year-old son, who plays football, to play with his head.