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Meet the best defender at the FIFA 2018 FIFA World Cup
Raphael Varane at just 25 years has won four UEFA Champions League titles.
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Early life
Varane was born on 25 April, 1993 in the city of Lille in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. He is of Martiniquais heritage through his father, Gaston, who is originally from Le Morne-Rouge, while his mother, Annie, was raised in Saint-Amand-les-Eaux
Football career
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Club football
Raphael Varane was nurtured by Lens. He was promoted to the senior team in the 2010-11 and after just a season with the French side Real Madrid went for his signature upon the recommendation of the Zinedine Zidane.
He became the favourite of the coach at the time Jose Mourinho, who preferred him over experienced Pepe in his second season.
Raphael Varane helped Real Madrid to win the La Liga in his first season as the Los Blancos became the first La Liga side to win the Spanish topflight league with 100 points.
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The Frenchman also played key role in helping Real Madrid win their 10th UEFA Champions League in 2014 against Atletico Madrid.
Fast forward he would play active as Real Madrid won the UEFA Champions League on a record three consecutive terms, 2016, 2017 and 2018, becoming the youngest player to with most UEFA Champions League successes.
At Lens he played 24 games and scored two goals, while at Real Madrid he has featured in 236 games and has scored 10 goals.
National Team
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In August 2012, Varane was called to the full French national team squad for a friendly against Uruguay, but was an unused substitute. He started his first match for France on 22 March 2013 in a qualifier for the World Cup against Georgia, a 3–1 victory. On 13 May 2014, he was included in Didier Deschamps' squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and at age 21 he became a regular feature in the French defence in the World Cup, forming a good central pair with Mamadou Sakho.
He played in all France’s four games, but unfortunately Germany, the eventual winners knocked the Les Blues out in the quarter finals.
Varane was selected to represent France in the 2018 FIFA World in Russia. He formed an excellent partnership with Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti.
He scored the opener of France’s 2-0 win over Uruguay in the quarter finals as the European giants cruised to their second FIFA World Cup triumph.
Raphael Varane emerged as the only defender shortlisted for the Golden Boot award, but he missed out on it to his Real Madrid teammate, Luka Modric.
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He has 50 caps for the France National team, having scored three goals
Playing style
Varane has been described by Lens youth coach Eric Assadourian as a "truly first class player" who is "comfortable on both the tactical and technical level". On 30th January 2013, the then Real Madrid assistant coach Aitor Karanka talked about Varane in the press conference post-El Clásico of the Copa del Rey, saying, "It's obvious that Varane has a good head on his shoulders and will keep improving."
Former France defender Frank Leboeuf believes that Varane has the potential to be better than Real Madrid legend Fernando Hierro, saying to reporters, "Many compare him to Hierro due to his technique, but on the physical level he is stronger and he is much faster." Fernando Hierro and José Mourinho have labelled Varane as one of the best defenders in world football.
Personal life
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Varane is married to his long time partner Camille Tytgat and they have a son, named Ruben.
Honours
Real Madrid
La Liga: 2011–12, 2016–17
Copa del Rey: 2013–14
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Supercopa de España: 2012, 2017
UEFA Champions League: 2013–14, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18
UEFA Super Cup: 2014, 2016, 2017
FIFA Club World Cup: 2014, 2016, 2017
France
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FIFA World Cup: 2018
Individual
FIFPro World XI 3rd team: 2015, 2017
FIFPro World XI 4th team: 2016
FIFPro World XI 5th team: 2014
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UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2017–18
FIFA World Cup Dream Team: 2018
FIFA World Cup Fantasy McDonald’s Overall XI: 2018
UEFA Defender of the Season – Runner-up: 2
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