« This is my goal: to get to the World Cup and do everything to win it, » Has been chosen Karim Benzemaofficially the World Footballer of the Year 2022, and the award was actually given for the achievements of the previous season.
But the main football event of 2022 is fast approaching. 20. In November The 22nd FIFA World Cup will start in Qatar and conclude with the Grand Final December 18. (All matches will be broadcast on TV SLO 2 / MMC!)
Will Benzema really play then and help France defend the golden statue of the best football team in the world?
Benzema is the fifth French player to win the Ballon d’Or
Banned for six years for blackmailing a teammate
Four years ago, the Lyon player was not part of the victorious France squad, in which he did not play at all between 2015 and 2021 due to responsibility for the scandal that unfolded just a year earlier. In July 2015, the then French national team Matthew Valbuena He went to the police because he was the victim of extortion. An unknown and electronically distorted voice demanded a ransom from Valbuena in exchange for an incriminating sex video.
At the time, Benzema was urging Valbuena to surrender to the blackmailer and pay the ransom, using Benzema’s childhood friend as an intermediary. The striker defended himself by trying to help the midfielder, but eyewitnesses confirmed that Benzema was laughing and showed no sympathy for the blackmailer. After several years of investigation, last November the trial of only the five defendants ended and charged Karim Benzema with a suspended prison sentence and a fine of 75,000 euros for his involvement in Valbuena’s extortion.
It didn’t work out in the European Championship, but it won the League of Nations
Just last year, Benzema returned to the French national football team for the European Championship after a six-year absence. Despite scoring four goals in the tournament, the French were already knocked out in the round of 16 against Switzerland on penalties. Then last October, Benzema was the key man in France’s victory in the previous edition of the Nations League.
Now the 34-year-old will debut France’s 100th jubilee in Qatar, which he debuted in 2007, at the age of just 19. In 97 matches in the blue jersey so far, the 185 cm tall striker has scored 37 goals, putting him in fifth place in the all-time scorers list. why blues.
In a world full of Ronaldo and Messi fans, I have been a Karim Benzema fan for 15 years of my life. They laughed at me when I told them that one day he would compete for the Ballon d’Or with Real Madrid. In the end every hero sees his day. Never give up and be like Karim. »
Popular Golden Ball?
But when the Golden Ball was presented to Benzema by his great role model Zinedine Zidane, there was no mention of the biggest stigma of his career. This is why Benzema’s sentence in his acceptance speech when he said that is what attracted so much attention Golden Ball of the People.
expression in french « le Ballon d’or du peuple » It was almost political in nature, which led to him being quickly asked at the official press conference what was behind the term.
« No, it’s not a political thing. It just says where I come from and where all my fans come from. When I say ‘Golden Ball for People’, it’s because they participated in it. Whenever there were obstacles, they encouraged me, they supported me all the time. I want to share this with them. » The appreciation, they deserve it because for so long, since Leon, they’ve always been there, encouraging me, motivating me. That’s why I’m happy today and I hope she is too, » He dedicated the Ballon d’Or to Benzema to his fans, who followed him from the Bronne suburb of Lyon and now since 2009 at Real Madrid.
44 goals in 46 games and three glories for captain Real
In the 2021/22 season for the club, the number 9 striker scored 44 goals in 46 games for Real Madrid. Among them, 27 goals for the Spanish champions title in the Spanish League and up to 15 goals in only 12 matches in the Champions League, in which Vinicius Junior decided the final match against Liverpool. He also added two more goals in the Spanish Super Cup and became the first captain to lift the three aforementioned titles. Scoring 10 goals and assisting two goals in 16 matches since his return to France, he will be the central striker for Didier Deschamps’ team as they seek their third World Cup title.
I’m like Karim’s older brother. This is how we like to call each other: little brother and big brother. We have almost the same background: he’s from Lyon and I’m from Marseille, but apart from that… We grew up in the neighborhood and it wasn’t easy for us at first. We were simple guys from the suburbs who dreamed of becoming professional players, which we achieved through hard work. We have a lot in common, all of our descendants: our families come from nearby villages in Algeria, in the small Kabylie region, which we have talked about many times.
Second oldest Ballon d’Or winner
Karim Benzema, who will turn 35 on December 17, has become the second oldest Ballon d’Or winner. The eldest was only the first winner in France Football magazine’s selection back in 1956. At that time, the English player was declared the best player in Europe Stanley Matthews, who won the Ballon d’Or at the incredible age of 41 years. Meanwhile, Benzema was nominated for the award 11 times before he finally managed to win it under Messi and Ronaldo.
New rules for a smaller jury
Is it the end of the period of joint football dominance between the Argentine and the Portuguese? Lionel Messi As the defending champion of the best football player in the world and holder of this award with seven Golden Balls, he was left without an official nomination and thus without a place among the top 30 players of the 2021/22 season. Meanwhile, it is Cristiano Ronaldo He finished 20th among the selection, but – judging from the start of the 2022/23 season – the picture will be completely reversed next year.
An important fact of choice is shaped by the new rules. France Football was chosen instead of selected journalists from 176 countries The golden ball 2022 invited only journalists from the top 100 national teams in the current FIFA ranking (Top 50 for the selection of the best female footballer). At the same time, the French football magazine, led by Pascal Ferret, emphasized another major selection criterion: they emphasized that individual achievements and not the player’s team successes should prevail, while at the same time past achievements should not be taken into account.
« I will retire at Real Madrid! »
There is no doubt about Karim Benzema’s future – he will remain at Real Madrid until his retirement. Captain’s current contract white ballet Otherwise, it ends in the summer of 2023, but a one-year extension has been agreed for some time, just waiting for the official announcement, in which the receipt of the Golden Ball will be the right moment. Speaking after the concert in Paris, Benzema himself said frankly: « I will retire at Real Madrid. There is no other option. »
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