It has been a great week for Karim Benzema. The No.9 has been recalled to the France squad for the first time in six years ahead of the European Championship, and he’ll want to end it by winning La Liga Santander with Real Madrid.
Best French player outside the France
The Frenchman was also named by the National Union of Professional Footballers’ – the French players’ association – as the best overseas French player, and won yet another award later in the week. On Friday, Benzema won the Onze d’Or, which names him as the best player playing in Europe in 2021, beating Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Robert Lewandowski to the prize, which is awarded by supporters and Onze Mundial.
Karim said – I’ve been waiting for a long time to return to the national team,” Benzema told Onze Mundial upon receiving the award. “I’ve always worked and I’ve never given up. “I really want to be with the French team, to train and to play matches because it’s a team with a lot of talent. I want to play for them.”
Now in his 30s, Benzema is playing arguably the best football of his career, which made him impossible for Didier Deschamps to overlook. “I’ve been going up, up and up,” Benzema said. “I don’t like to say that I’m better at something than others, but I try to be inventive on the pitch.”
Playing along with Kylian Mbappe
The Real Madrid forward also expressed his excitement to play alongside Kylian Mbappe, who himself posted about Benzema’s return to the national team. “It can only be easy,” Benzema said.
He’s young but very talented. I like his football and how he moves on the pitch. It’s up to us to understand each other but I have no doubt that we will. But we shouldn’t focus on that partnership, because there are a lot of talented players in the group.”