(Football news) Karim Benzema has announced his retirement from international football. Benzema’s France career has been full of ups and downs but it is indeed a sad ending. The striker made his senior international debut in 2007 and soon became a regular part of the team. He had a decent start to his France career and he was selected in the Euro 2008 squad.
The tournament was a disaster for Benzema whose performance on the pitch and alleged behavior off it was nowhere near expected standard. Despite that Benzema continued to be a regular member of the team until the 2010 World Cup where he was dropped from the squad. Manager Raymond Domenech said that his lack of form at new club Real Madrid was the reason for his omission.
Karim Benzema returned to the national team under new coach Laurent Blanc who built the team around him. Benzema started showing his quality in French colours and he became the leader of the French attack. He assisted two goals at the Euro 2012 but failed to score as France were knocked out in the Round of 16. Subsequently in the 2014 World Cup, he scored 3 goals but France were knocked out by eventual champions Germany. After 201,5 Benzema was excluded from the squad due to non footballing reasons which caused a fair bit of controversy for Didier Deschamps and FFF president Noel Le Graet.
Karim Benzeman wasn’t a part of the French team that reached the final of the Euro 2016 and the team that won the 2018 World Cup. After Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid, Benzema’s career went into another gear as he became one of the best players in the world. By the time the Euro 2020 came around, Deschamps simply couldn’t ignore Benzema and he made his return in the tournament. The Real Madrid man scored 4 goals but France were knocked out by Switzerland on penalties in the Round of 16. Benzema kept his place in the squad as he scored a goal each in the UEFA Nations League semi final and final as France lifted the trophy.
The Real Madrid captain was included in the 2022 World Cup squad despite having injury troubles throughout the season with Real Madrid. He couldn’t recover in time and was sent home as Deschamps didn’t name a replacement. It was reported that the striker is likely to be fit for the latter stages and would be eligible to play. Deschamps and his staff didn’t even consider it which reportedly made Benzema furious. The striker was invited to watch the finals but he rejected the invitation. There were reports stating that his relationship with Deschamps has been broken which may be one of the reasons for his retirement.
France made it to the World Cup final and there too they lost on penalties which suggests that the decision didn’t backfire but Ballon d’Or winner would’ve definitely improved the France team and they would’ve had a better chance of winning. Benzema’s France career is not as successful as some of its legends but it had its moments. He has ended his career as the 5th highest goalscorer in French history scoring 37 goals in just 97 games
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