If the French football team manages to retain its world title on December 18, it will not be unworthy. For several weeks, the Blues have been chaining the pitfalls. It makes you wonder if the curse of the reigning world champions – the last three were eliminated in the first round – has not taken a little head start this year.
Saturday, November 19, while participating in his first collective session since the start of the Blues rally, Karim Benzema was forced to leave training prematurely. Accompanied by the selection doctor, Franck Le Gall, the striker then underwent tests at the Aspetar clinic in Doha which revealed a muscle tear in the quadriceps of the left thigh.
At 11:28 p.m., the French Football Federation (FFF) formalized its package for the entire World Cup on its Twitter account.
Hit in the quadriceps of the left thigh, Karim @Benzema is forced to give up participating in the World Cup. Any… https://t.co/mdZz5NIwy2
Coach Didier Deschamps reacted in a FFF press release : “I am extremely sad for Karim who made this World Cup a major goal. Despite this new blow for the French team, I have full confidence in my group. We will do everything to meet the immense challenge that awaits us. »
The main interested expressed himself on Twitter : “In my life, I have never given up but tonight I have to think about the team, as I have always done. So reason tells me to leave my place to someone who can help our group have a good World Cup. »
For a month, the Lyonnais had been struggling with hamstring pain. With the approach of a crucial World Cup for him – he was sidelined during the last edition, in 2018 – he had tried to spare himself, alternating a few ends of the match and periods of rest. His last meeting played in full dates back to October 19.
Nth package
The 34-year-old star is known for taking care of his body and his physical condition, but this embarrassment certainly crippled him and he ended up hurting another muscle, the quadriceps, an injury from compensation, such as athletes returning to activity are sometimes victims. The latter definitively sealed the fate of the Madrid striker, imposing a brutal and difficult end to the uncertainty which hung over the fate of one of the best players in the world.
For several days, the state of form of Benzema was almost the occasion of a daily health report, relayed by the media which follow the Blues. We watched the news, we interviewed his teammates and we watched his appearances at training. Thursday, November 17, during a meeting entirely open to the press and the public, all eyes were on him. The concern took precedence when, in the company of his teammate Raphaël Varane, also convalescing, he deviated from the group to carry out individualized exercises.
The next day, the questions had rocketed during the traditional press conference with the two Blues of media chore. One of them, Youssouf Fofana, tried to reassure and perhaps reassure himself: “Karim Benzema is a top player. He’s a great player, he’s used to being criticized on certain points, if he couldn’t play it’s because he wasn’t 100%hoped the Monegasque. We hope he will be operational for the first game. He is very serene, he has a lot of experience, he knows his body. There is no worry, he knows very well that he will be fine and that he will respond as soon as he can. »
This will not be the case. Didier Deschamps will therefore have to record this umpteenth package. He has until Monday evening, on the eve of the entry into the running of the French team, to possibly choose a replacement for the star of Real Madrid in the list of twenty-six players selected
A career in Blue tormented and full of twists and turns
If he was a young retiree at the time, Didier Deschamps certainly had the misadventure of the 2002 World Cup in mind. That year, Zinédine Zidane, an iconic figure in French football, was injured during the last preparation match on the ground south korean. He had been kept in the group, rested for the first two games and his hasty return in the third, against Denmark, had not changed the tricolor fiasco. This refusal of reality had certainly been able to disturb the collective. At Euro 2008, the uncertainty concerned another great player, midfielder Patrick Vieira. Benzema’s package, announced before the start of the competition, at least has the merit of avoiding this kind of situation.
Above all, he removes another experienced and leading player from the France team. Before the World Cup, Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kanté, two figures of the 2018 world champions, have already thrown in the towel due to injuries. Defender Presnel Kimpembe has given up a few days before leaving for the Middle East, like the second goalkeeper, Mike Maignan. As for striker Christopher Nkunku, he twisted his knee during the last training session at Clairefontaine (Yvelines).
Karim Benzema’s career in Blue remains tormented and full of twists and turns. Despite his longevity – he celebrated his first international selection in 2007 – he has only played in one World Cup to date. Not retained by Raymond Domenech in 2010, he had escaped the South African disaster. Four years later, he was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Brazilian World Cup under the orders of Deschamps. Then, sidelined for years, he did not return until 2021.
He will turn 35 on December 19, the day after the final in Doha. He will therefore be 36 years old at the next major competition to which the Blues will apply, Euro 2024 in Germany. The horizon of another World Cup seems uncertain. In 2026, the striker will be 38 years old.
Avalanche of wounds
But Karim Benzema has never been stronger. In 2021-2022, he scored 44 goals in 46 appearances for Real Madrid. He carried his club during his victorious run in the Champions League, author of fifteen goals. In October 2021, he was also one of the main architects of the victory of the Blues in the League of Nations, sparkling against Belgium and Spain in the semi-finals and in the final. His ex-teammate, Cristiano Ronaldo, is preparing to play his fifth World Cup with Portugal at the age of 37.
Thursday, it was another announced star of this World Cup who had formalized his absence. Senegalese Sadio Mané was injured with his club Bayern Munich. Operated a few days before the competition, he did not make the trip to Qatar.
This avalanche of injuries raises the question of the intensification of the international football calendar, which subjects players to an ever more hectic pace. Unfortunately, deprived of their Golden Ball, the Blues are well placed to know.
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