Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema, sidelined from the France team since 2015 in the wake of the sextape affair, was recalled Tuesday to play the Euro, a monumental opposite signed Didier Deschamps.
I have always ignored my personal case, the France team does not belong to me, it is above everything, the coach justified himself, claiming to have overruled his reluctance after having discussed at length with the forward – 33-year-old center.
On Twitter, the footballer with more than 12 million subscribers said he was so proud of the return to the Blues and the trust that I am given.
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The surprise announcement eclipses the 25 other names lying on the list, the final version of which is due to be sent to UEFA on 1 June. However, there are also Mönchengladbach striker Marcus Thuram (3 caps) and defender Jules Koundé (Sevilla FC), a neophyte called directly for a major tournament, a first for Deschamps.
Adored in Spain, controversial in France, Benzema will finally resume the thread of its history with the selection, five and a half years after the last double against Armenia (4-0), on October 8, 2015, in Nice. Wink of history, it is precisely on the Riviera that the Blues go on June 2 to challenge the Welsh in preparation for the Euro.
The return of KB9 reinforces the ranks of the reigning world champions and vice-champions of Europe, faced in this Euro with a very tough first round against Germany, Portugal, and Hungary.
Even without a list expanded to 26 players, against 23 usually, the Madrilenian would have been part of the trip, according to Deschamps: I would have removed three others, but I did not even ask myself the question.
Sportingly, this reminder is justified by the successful season of Benzema, credited with 29 goals in 45 games with Real. But it surprises insofar as Benzema was persona non grata since his indictment in the case of the blackmail with the sextape exerted on Mathieu Valbuena, then his teammate in selection. He will appear in court in October.
If this return may have surprised some, it delights me. I think it’s an excellent decision, given his talent and his remarkable performance reacted the president of the French Federation, Noël Le Graët.
Without definitively closing the door to a return of the Madrilenian, Deschamps had decided not to take him to Euro 2016 in the name of the exemplary nature and the preservation of the group, before persisting in this choice at the 2018 World Cup won by the Blues.
In response, Benzema had accused him of having yielded under pressure from a racist part of France, two days before the Breton residence of the coach was vandalized, with a tag calling him a racist.
At 52, the boss of the Blues is once again showing leniency, as during the recall of ex-ban Adrien Rabiot in September 2020, more than two years after his refusal to be a simple reserve at the World Cup.
The lessons of the past have been learned: DD has this time not announced a list of substitutes and the player of Juventus Turin has been able to blend into the French collective until becoming the holder.
Logically, the 26-year-old ex-Parisian figure prominently in the list, alongside other midfielders Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kanté, Corentin Tolisso, Thomas Lemar, and Moussa Sissoko.
