PARIS (AP) – When Karim Benzema held up the Ballon d’Or award last month, the crowd in the Parisian theatre rose to applaud him. Now he hopes to lift France fans out of their seats at the World Cup.
That crowded theatre seemed a fitting location for Benzema’s crowning moment of personal glory, considering he was once the symbol of national disapproval – long rejected and maligned by the French public following a sex tape scandal.
After a dramatic fall from grace that led to a long exclusion from the national team until his recall last year, there he was, milking their applause.
Calm and poised, intellectual-looking with thin-rimmed glasses, Benzema finally being celebrated as a national icon – only the fifth Frenchman to win the award as the best player in Europe and the first since Zinedine Zidane, his idol, in 1998.
“There were times when it was much harder for me. There was a period when I wasn’t in the national team, but I never gave up,” Benzema said when collecting the Ballon d’Or.
“(Zidane) kept telling me to enjoy my football, that one day I could win this trophy. It only made me stronger mentally.”
Since his recall to the national team, Benzema has scored 10 goals in 16 games – including four at last year’s European Championship – and he enters the World Cup as arguably the world’s most complete forward along with Lionel Messi.
“I don’t just think about scoring, although I can do it,” Benzema said. “I prefer to help my teammates.”
Jose Mourinho, Benzema’s former coach at Madrid, highlights the unselfish streak that the forward has maintained while winning five Champions League titles.
“Karim is a team guy,” Mourinho said. “He’s not someone who thinks of himself.”
Benzema is 34 years old, and he will turn 35 the day after this year’s World Cup final.
“I don’t think there’s an age limit. You see more and more players improving after their 30s. It’s a question of determination,” Benzema said. “You have to work that bit harder and keep your dream in mind.”
France coach Didier Deschamps finally recalled Benzema to the national team in 2021 after six years out, and Benzema was France’s best player at the European Championship.
“I’m almost like an older brother for Karim. We have almost the same path. He grew up on a housing estate, I grew up on an estate,” Zidane said when Benzema won the Ballon d’Or.
“Nothing was easy for us. We both had a dream to become professional football players.”
Zidane was known for his incredible vision, poise, balletic balance and technical ability. So it’s some compliment when he praises Benzema’s skill.
“His ball control is incredible, it’s beautiful to see,” Zidane said. “He’s capable of scoring and helping others score.”
