ONE | system
Karim Benzema (Reuters)
It was in the air, and today (Monday) it became official: a day after the World Cup final and on his 35th birthday, Karim Benzema announced that he is ending his career with the French national team. The striker, who did not take part in the World Cup after being injured just a few days before it began and was not a part of the tricolor’s journey to the final, wrote: “I made the effort and also the mistakes to be where I am today. I wrote my story and ours, but today this story ends.”
Benzema returned to the national team for the Euros in the summer of 2021 after being suspended from the national team since 2016 following that famous affair with Mathieu Valbuena. Since then, it seems that the striker had time to quarrel with Didier Deschamps, when just before the semi-final against Morocco, the striker published a post with the caption “It doesn’t interest me”, this is in response to various criticisms he heard from the camp of the national team, when coach Deschamps chose to ignore it every time he was asked about it .
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. #Nine pic.twitter.com/7LYEzbpHEs— Karim Benzema (@Benzema) December 19, 2022
Benzema, the recent Ballon d’Or winner, made 97 appearances in the tricolor uniform during his career, in which he scored 37 goals, ranking fifth in the national team’s all-time scoring list, with only four goals separating him from Michel Platini. Well, as mentioned, Benzema will no longer go there, as he has chosen to focus exclusively on Real Madrid, which he will try to lead to a second consecutive win in the Champions League, and the sixth in his career.
