Karim Benzema could’ve featured in the FIFA World final against Argentina but was banished by Deschamps, his agent claimed.
Karim Djaziri, the agent of Karim Benzema, published information concerning the forward’s alleged injury that caused him to miss the World Cup, adding gasoline to the flames over the forward’s altercation with Didier Deschamps.
After becoming hurt on the eve of the competition, Benzema was sent home, but there was some talk that he would have been able to play in the final after taking part in a Real Madrid friendly.
He apparently declined the chance to return to Qatar as a result of his disagreement with manager Didier Deschamps, and after the final loss, he confirmed on social media that he had decided to end his international career.
According to reports, Karim Benzema believed his injury was minimal and that he didn’t need to be sent home because it only needed three days of care at Real Madrid’s training facility.
He reportedly wanted to stay with the French team to undergo treatment, but Deschamps sent him out of the camp.
And Djaziri has now escalated the argument by providing Twitter users with proof that Benzema would have been well enough to compete in the tournament’s round of 16 and that his expulsion from the team was unnecessary.
After tests were conducted in Qatar that resulted in Benzema being ruled out, he posted a video with photographs of his injuries.
Djaziri provided the following statement to go along with the video: ‘I put that there but before that I consulted 3 specialists who confirm the diagnosis that Karim Benzema could have been fit from the last 16 to at least be on the bench! Why did you ask him to leave so quickly?’ This is seen as an obvious jab at Deschamps.
Benzema just required a three-week recovery period from the injury he sustained on November 19 and would have been ready for the World Cup knockout stages, according to prior reports from the Spanish newspaper Marca.
According to reports, Benzema was on vacation on the island of Reunion on December 4 when France played Poland in the round of 16.
The posts from Djaziri come after Spanish news outlet AS reported that French teammate Antoine Griezmann felt too much social media coverage was spent on the Real Madrid striker and not on him during the build-up to, and during, the tournament.
Djaziri questioned the legitimacy of Deschamps’ actions to rule out Benzema.
According to the story, Griezmann was “concerned” about how frequently Benzema appeared on social media, and this almost led to a “executive meeting” with the French Football Federation to resolve his concerns.
The 35-year-old striker also unfollowed nearly all of his former France squad members on Instagram, adding to the controversy surrounding Benzema’s dramatic World Cup exit.
Griezmann is one of those who has received the cold shoulder, but according to AS, Olivier Giroud and Hugo Lloris, two other former followers of Benzema, are also alleged to have ‘raised misgivings’ about Benzema’s influence on the team.
Paul Pogba, who was injured and did not make France’s World Cup roster, is also thought to be unsure about Benzema’s place in the squad.
All of Benzema’s previous national team colleagues were unfollowed on his social media accounts, with the exception of Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni, Kylian Mbappe, Raphael Varane, and Marcus Thuram.
At Real Madrid, Karim Benzema plays with Camavinga and Tchouameni, while Varane was a teammate of the striker at Los Blancos.
He continues to support former Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane, who is a strong candidate for the position leading the national team as Deschamps considers his options.
After Karim Benzema announced his retirement, video has surfaced showing the 35-year-old being met with hostility by his former colleagues when he rejoined the national squad last year.
Hugo Lloris’ thundering expression during a team lunch led some observers to believe that not all French players were in favor of the Madrid striker’s return, despite Deschamps’ speech welcoming him back to the team.
‘I made the effort and the mistakes it took to be where I am today and I’m proud of it! I have written my story and ours is ending,’ Benzema wrote on Instagram last week while announcing his international retirement.
