- Benzema announces withdrawal from France national team
- 2022-12-20 14:17:14.0 Source: Xinhuanet
Author: Xie Yuzhi
French striker Benzema, who plays for the Spanish club Real Madrid, announced on the 19th that he will withdraw from the French national team.
Benzema chose to announce the news on his 35th birthday. He posted a photo of himself wearing the French national team jersey on the social platform, and wrote: “I have made the necessary efforts and made the mistakes that should be made. I have come all the way to today. I feel sorry for all of this. Proud. I wrote my own story, and our story has come to an end.” This short text means that his “grievances” with the French national team will come to an end.
Benzema made his national team debut in March 2007 in a friendly against Austria. He then participated in the 2008, 2012 European Championships and the 2014 World Cup with the French team. But since the end of 2015, he was rejected by Didier Deschamps’ French national team because of his involvement in the blackmail case of French player Valbuena. It was during his absence that the French team ushered in one of the most glorious periods in its history: the team won the runner-up in the 2016 European Championships and won the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
In 2021, Deschamps was forced to re-recruit Benzema under external pressure. Although Benzema scored 4 goals in the European Championship, the French team unfortunately missed the quarter-finals. In October of the same year, Benzema helped the team win the UEFA Champions League, which is the only trophy he has ever lifted in the national team.
In the Qatar World Cup, Benzema was successfully selected for the French national team as the new Golden Globe winner. However, just before the start of the game, he injured his left leg during training. Coach Didier Deschamps quickly made the decision to let him leave the team. Benzema’s World Cup dreams once again fell through. Just one day after the French team lost the final, Benzema, who had already returned to Madrid, announced the end of his international career.
So far, Benzema has played 97 times in the national team jersey and scored 37 goals. He is the fifth highest scorer in the history of the French national team.