Karim Benzema left in French – Sport – Kommersant

One of the most famous football players in the world, this year’s Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema announced that he was completing his performances for the French national team, having lost to the Argentine team in the final of the World Cup on penalties the day before. Formally, the Real Madrid striker, who turned 35 today, was included in the application for this tournament, but de facto did not take part in it. The official reason for Karim Benzema’s absence from Qatar was injury.

The 2022 Ballon d’Or winner, Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema announced the end of his appearances for the French national team via his Twitter account. “I have worked hard and made mistakes to get to where I am today and I am proud of it. I wrote my story, and our common story is over, ”said the striker on his 35th birthday, less than a day after the French team in the final of the World Cup on penalties conceded team of Argentina.

The errors mentioned by Benzema in this entry are probably related to the scandalous story that happened in 2015. Then the former Dynamo Moscow player Mathieu Valbuena was blackmailed by unknown persons who demanded €150,000 for an intimate video of a football player, and Karim Benzema was accused of leading the criminals to the entourage of his teammate. As a result, the midfielder and striker, at the suggestion of the leadership of the French Football Federation, were suspended from playing for the national team, and Benzema accused its head coach Didier Deschamps of following the lead of “the racist part of France.”

After Benzema, who was in excellent shape, resumed playing for the national team in 2021 before the European Championship, it seemed that the conflict with Deschamps had been settled, but the football player failed to play in Qatar. The official reason for this became an injury that Benzema treated first on vacation and later in Madrid. The striker, who retained his spot on the roster, was rumored to have recovered faster than expected and was even ready to take part in the final. However, Deschamps did not dare to return him to the national team, refusing to answer questions about this.

In total, the five-time Champions League winner has made 97 appearances for France with Real Madrid: 81 from 2007 to 2015 and 16 since his return, scoring 37 goals.

The main success of Karim Benzema in the national team was the victory in the League of Nations of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) of the 2020/21 season. In the final of that tournament against Spain, which ended 2-1, Benzema scored his team’s first goal, equalizing the score. But he has nothing to do with the victory of the French at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Evgeny Fedyakov