Real Madrid and France International forward Karim Benzema will not be among the expected players that will take part in the tribute planned for France’s recently-retired international footballers.
According to a report from Téléfoot, the Real Madrid star is not anticipated to participate in the scheduled memorial match after falling out of France manager’s favor.
France’s national team boss Didier Deschamps revealed that Hugo Lloris, Steve Mandanda, Raphaël Varane, Blaise Matuidi, and Benzema had all been invited to Les Bleus’ match against the Netherlands on Friday, March 24 to pay tribute to their international careers.
France will host the Ronald Koeman-led Dutch side at the Stade de France to kick off their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.
However, it has turned out to be that the 2022 Ballon d’Or winner Benzema, amid the controversy surrounding his feud with France boss Deschamps over his injury sustained ahead of the Qatar World Cup, won’t be participating in the tribute.
After Benzema’s interview with Le Parisien, the 2022 Champions League hero posted two different messages on his Instagram aimed at Deschamps: “Such audacity” followed by a clown emoji and “That Didier. Goodnight.”
And Following his post, the 35-year-old declared that he would explain himself to the public later.
The France veteran forward Benzema never had a great experience for his country.
After participating in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, he was then called up for the Euro 2020 competition following a suspension from the French national team squad.
The Real Madrid star was selected for the Euro 2020 tournament after he was expelled from the national team in 2015 following a shocking sex video that went viral that involves one of his colleagues.
The controversy featured a leaked sex tape featuring Mathieu Valbuena, a former teammate of Karim Benzema from the French team.
Despite his illustrious club career at Real Madrid, Benzema wasn’t able to achieve much with the national team due to his instability in the team.
He wasn’t in the French team that won the 2018 World Cup. And in the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Benzema was left out of the France’s squad due to injury.
The France’s national team, without the 2022 Ballon d’Or winner eventually lost the World Cup trophy to Argentina.
In Benzema’s 97 appearances for France’s national team, the Real Madrid veteran forward has scored 37 goals.
And in this season, the 35-year-old has been impressive despite injuries that have restricted his game time.
In 28 games across all competitions for Real Madrid, Karim Benzema scored 19 goals.
The 2022 Ballon d’Or victor will be striving to guide Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid to their 15 Champions League triumph this season.
What’s your thought on Benzema’s decision and do you think France would have won the 2022 World Cup if he was present? Drop your opinion in the comments box.
