Manchester United defender Raphael Varane has been talking about the moment he feared his World Cup dream was over.
Varane suffered an injury against Chelsea last month, and left the pitch at Stamford Bridge in tears.
His concern was very obvious, that he worried his World Cup dream had come to an abrupt end, before the tournament had even started.
The injury has ended up not being as serious as Varane feared, thankfully, and he was recently named in France’s squad for the tournament in Qatar.
Varane says he hopes to be 100 per cent
Varane has been speaking to French newspaper Le Figaro about his recovery and his mindset heading into the tournament.
The centre-back says he soon hopes to be at 100 per cent, in an effort to be fit to start in France’s opening game.
He said: “I worked extremely hard to be able to be here today and I continue to work very hard to be 100% operational as soon as possible.
“At the time, I was afraid it would be much more serious. At that moment the sensations were not good at all.
“I was very afraid of being away from the field for a very long time. Finally, it’s a lesser evil compared to my sensations at the start.”
The report adds Varane ‘spent a few days in Clairefontaine to do intense rehab, ‘from morning to night’.
Varane is confident he is on course to be fit for France’s first match, adding: “I’m on the right track. After that, there are always hazards. You have to follow the sensations. And that, we will know very soon before the start. Until then, I continue to take the steps.”
France’s first match against Australia is on November 22, exactly one month since Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea.
Les Bleus boss Didier Deschamps pledged this week not to take any chances with Varane, but expressed confidence he was on course to start the opening match.
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