Benzema Is A Big Disappointment. Karim Polluted His Reputation Very Quickly

Benzema Is A Big Disappointment. Karim Polluted His Reputation Very Quickly

 

The Frenchman has turned into one of the most toxic footballers in the world, although a couple of months ago everyone admired him.

A couple of months ago, the striker of Real Madrid and the French national team, Karim Benzema, was perhaps the most revered football player in the world among fans and the media. The sports community admired the game of Benzema, who absolutely deservedly received the Golden Ball this year.

The 2022 World Cup was supposed to be another successful item on the 35-year-old striker’s resume. Benzema did not have a successful career in the French national team, but in Qatar, he finally had every chance to lead the national team to medals in a major international tournament. Who would have thought that the situation would literally turn upside down and, following the results of the World Cup, Karim would turn from a universal idol into a toxic character with a tarnished reputation?

Benzema did not come to the World Cup final and unexpectedly ended his career in the French national team

 

A brief history of Benzema during the World Cup. He received a hip injury before the start of the tournament, but it was not too serious and theoretically allowed him to return to the playoffs. Karim did not stay at the disposal of the French national team, went to rest on the Pacific island of Reunion and returned to Real Madrid, where he had been training without restrictions since the beginning of December.

The Madrid club claims that Benzema needed only three days of treatment from doctors and physiotherapists at the club’s base in Valdebebas, and on December 15, the striker already played in a friendly match with Leganes. France at this time was working its way to the final. Before the decisive game against Argentina, there was a lot of talk about Benzema’s return to Qatar and his potential participation in the match.

The head coach of the “tricolor” Didier Deschamps did not exclude Benzema from the application even after the injury and the departure of the player. But Karim did not return to Qatar even as a fan to support his partners, declining a personal invitation to the final of French President Emmanuel Macron.

France lost to Argentina in the final (3-3, 2-4 on penalties). Soon after, Benzema announced his retirement from the national team, which looked very unexpected.

Already for the refusal to Macron, the striker was criticized by the fans. The situation was aggravated by the information that appeared in the media about the bad relationship between Benzema and Deschamps. According to L’Équipe, striker and coach have never been “on the same wavelength.” Including because of the Mathieu Valbuena blackmail scandal, because of which Karim was not involved in the national team for six years (2015-2021). Didier did not have a particular desire to call the striker for the 2022 World Cup, but still he could not ignore his bright game for Real Madrid and included him in the application.

Further, insiders about the conflict between Benzema and other players of the national team leaked to the media. It has been repeatedly confirmed that the majority of French football players were glad for the absence of Karim in Qatar. CNN and New York Times journalist Romain Molina reported that forward Antoine Griezmann and goaltender Hugo Lloris did not welcome the return of Benzema to the national team, as he draws all the attention to himself and brings toxicity to the team.

Griezmann, Lloris, Paul Pogba and Olivier Giroud are the list of French leaders who were unhappy with the challenge of Benzema even before the start of the tournament. It is noted that Benzema is close to some of the players of the national team (Marcus Thuram, Aurélien Tchouameni), but most of the partners treat him badly or at best indifferently. In general, in the locker room of the French national team, they did not notice the absence of Karim at the tournament, and many players were frankly delighted with this.

 

Arguments in defense of Benzema

 

The common truth says that the medal has two sides. There are also arguments in favor of Benzema. Let them sound not too convincing, but they should not be brushed aside.

According to Libertad Digital, Benzema had no plans to leave the French squad after he was injured days before the start of the 2022 World Cup. Deschamps allegedly approached Karim after the injury and said, “It’s a pity you have to leave.” The striker took it as if the head coach did not need him, gave himself a mini-vacation in Reunion and returned to Real Madrid.

Foot Mercato claims that Benzema’s entourage reacted with incomprehension to the actions of the coaching staff of the national team. Relatives of Karim blame Deschamps and his assistants for the fact that the striker was brought to injury by improperly distributing the load. Karim is said to have had a very intense workout the day before the injury.

At the same time, L’Équipe writes that the medical staff of the French team has its own claims against Benzema. Before the 2022 World Cup, doctors wanted to conduct a full examination to assess Karim’s condition, but the striker refused it. Benzema decided that he knew his body perfectly, as well as the problems that bothered him, so he considered that he could do without an examination.

That is, on the part of the player came a clear unprofessionalism. Karim showed exactly the same quality in Real Madrid a month before the World Cup. Then Benzema frankly “mowed down” from matches, entering the field only once since mid-October. The official reason is a muscle injury. However, the French and Spanish media regularly reported that Karim could play if he wanted to, but simply did not want to do it. Real Madrid was not enthusiastic about the striker’s behavior, but decided to show him leniency and was sympathetic to the desire to take a short break after an outstanding 2021/2022 season with a victory in the Champions League.

The arguments in Benzema’s defense are questioned by the fact that Libertad Digital and Foot Mercato are significantly less authoritative media compared to L’Équipe, ESPN, CNN and the New York Times, which published data damaging the striker.

In addition, Libertad Digital and Foot Mercato started whitewashing the forward too late, literally in the last few days. Looks like a response to the accusations of L’Équipe and company. Quite possibly, with lobbying from the side of the football player and his camp. And why did Benzema refuse Macron’s simple invitation to watch the final as a spectator? Against this background, information about a conflict with partners seems plausible.

In any case, the path of Benzema in the French team is completed. Karim made a total of 97 appearances for the national team and scored 37 goals. Most of them are in freight trains, qualifications and a non-prestigious semi-official tournament called the League of Nations. At major international tournaments, the presence of Benzema has always marked a failure for France.

At Euro 2008 and Euro 2012, Karim did not score goals, and France was eliminated from the group and the first round of the playoffs. At the 2014 World Cup, Karim scored twice (one goal from a penalty kick), and the team reached the 1/4 finals. Euro 2020 was the most successful tournament for Benzema on a personal level. He scored four times, but the team flew out to the 1/8 finals from Switzerland (3:3, 4:5 on penalties).

World Cup 2022 was held without the participation of Benzema. France lost in the final, but the result for Deschamps’ team is still successful, especially after the title in 2018. It is far from a fact that with Karim the French would have made it to the decisive match in Qatar, given the striker’s negative impact on the atmosphere in the locker room.

We have to admit that Benzema’s international career turned out to be extremely controversial and ambiguous. The main thing is that Karim should forget about all the problems in the national team as soon as possible and switch to work at Real Madrid. I really do not want him to spoil the opinion of himself even in the club.

 

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