France defender Lucas Hernandez reportedly considered retiring from football after his injury in their opening game of the World Cup, only to be talked around by his mum.
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Hernandez sustained an ACL injury in the early stages of the holders’ match with Australia on Tuesday, as he strained to block Matthew Leckie’s cross, which Goodwin scored from.
After lying prone on the turf for several minutes, the 26-year-old Bayern star was replaced by his younger brother Theo, who currently plays for AC Milan.
Bayern confirmed on Thursday that Hernandez had undergone successful surgery on the injury, but he isn’t expected to play again for the Bundesliga club for the rest of the 2022-23 campaign.
“Lucas Hernandez was successfully operated on by Prof. Christian Fink in Innsbruck on Thursday evening after rupturing his cruciate ligament in his right knee,” said Bayern.
“The FC Bayern defender will commence his rehabilitation in Munich in the coming days. He suffered the injury in the France national team’s World Cup opener against Australia.”
The success of the surgery is said to have improved Hernandez’s mood somewhat, but French sports newspaper L’Equipe, via Get French Football News, claim that he was so upset about the extent of the injury that he considered ending his career there and then, only for a conversation with his mother to make the player change his mind.
Hernandez started at left-back in France’s 4-2 victory over Croatia in the 2018 World Cup final in Russia, and a year later he left Atletico Madrid for Bayern having played 110 matches in Spain.
He has made 107 appearances in all competitions for Bayern, winning three Bundesliga titles and the UEFA Champions League in 2020.
He was replaced by his brother Theo for France’s second World Cup group game against Denmark, with the 25-year-old set to maintain his place for the rest of the competition.
