Previously unseen footage of Manchester United's Raphael Varane giving a rousing speech to his France teammates, which is believed to have been taken at half-time against Poland in the Round of 16 at the World Cup, has been released on social media.
Varane played in every match bar France's game against Australia at the tournament and he was a key player in helping his nation reach the final in Qatar, although Les Blues could not defend their world champions status against Argentina.
Argentina defeated France on penalties in the final on Sunday night and Varane played 113 minutes in that match.
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Now, two days after the World Cup final, there has been footage released of Varane delivering a passionate speech in the France dressing room, which is believed to have been taken at half-time during their RO16 win against Poland.
In the footage, Varane says: "It's a golden opportunity, don't start playing it for yourself, it's a team, we need everyone here, it's war."
The footage has been translated and it shows an animated Varane commanding the attention of the dressing room.
Varane admitted France 'pushed until the end' after they were defeated in the final. “Of course we’re very disappointed, we gave everything. We had to face a lot of obstacles throughout the competition, we never gave in," he said on Sunday.
“We weren’t in the game for an hour. We could have won, I’m very proud of this group and to be French. We keep our heads high. It went by very quickly, after that we were physically better. We pushed and we believed up until the end.
"We nearly turned the game around, after starting badly. It was a sinuous journey but there was a mental strength in this team, a lot of heart. That allowed us to get back in the game. We’re disappointed but there’s a lot of pride.”
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