France’s Benjamin Pavard admits he was KO’d after collision with Germany’s Robin Gosens

Midway through the second half of Germany’s 1-0 loss to France in their Euro 2020 Group F match, Robin Gosens collided with Bayern Munich defender and France star Benjamin Pavard as he was attempting to get on the end of a cross sent in from Joshua Kimmich.

As Gosens leapt in the air to try and make contact, it appeared that his leg collided with the side of Pavard’s head as he was trying to clear the danger. After the collision, Pavard was assessed for several minutes by the physios and medical staff, per the strict concussion protocols in place, but was eventually allowed to resume play and wound up playing the rest of the match.

Speaking after the match, the Bayern right-back revealed that he was, indeed, knocked out for 10 to 15 seconds. “I took a real shock. I was a little knocked out for ten, 15 seconds,” he said (Mirror).

Photo by Shan Yuqi/Xinhua via Getty Images

After the horrific collapse of Denmark’s Christian Eriksen during the match against Finland over the weekend, extra attention is being placed on player’s safety and medical personnel are quick to address on-pitch medical issues. However, there is still an argument to be made for UEFA to introduce a concussion substitute rule, much like the Premier League introduced for the second half of this past season after Wolverhampton’s Raul Jimenez suffered a concussion and fractured skull after a collision with Arsenal’s David Luiz.

Former Premier League striker and current BBC pundit Chris Sutton called for an immediate call to action from UEFA in placing more emphasis on the safety of the players in the wake of all of these incidents. “When will the footballing authorities actually put the players’ health first? It’s not difficult. Temporary concussion substitutes need to be implemented right away. Get the player off to be checked by an independent doctor. Put a substitute on. If the player is OK, put him back on,” he said.

Sutton’s sentiment was matched by Dietmar Hamman. “They have to act, it’s not enough. What’s happening at the moment is not enough, because he shouldn’t have been allowed to carry on a minute after these two heavy hits on the head,” the former German international explained.

UEFA is going to investigate the incident

Gosens might be in line for some UEFA-induced discipline as well: