Anwar Ibrahim (Cairo)
French superstar Karim Benzema, Real Madrid’s striker and captain, joined the list of world football “legends” who won the Ballon d’Or award, awarded annually by France Football magazine to the best player in the world, and became the fifth French player to receive this honor, after his compatriots Raymond Cuba “1958”, and Michel Platini “1983, 1084, 1985”, Jean-Pierre Papin “1991” and Zinedine Zidane “1998”, and he is considered the oldest among the 66 stars who received this award throughout its history, which began in 1956, where it will be completed on December 19. 35 years old, born 1987.
Benzema’s career with the ball was full of titles and championships, especially with his Spanish club Real Madrid, and throughout this march he did not give in to any frustrations or disappointments, and did not lower his arms, even in the darkest circumstances, including his exclusion for more than five years from his country’s team, by a decision of the Le Graet, president of the French Federation, and Didier Deschamps, coach of the national team, “Rooster”, and the latter is the same who brought him back to the national team this year!
Benzema also did not give up throughout his history, after his departure from his first club, Olympique Lyon, although while he was at Real Madrid since 2009, he teamed up with great strikers such as Spaniard Raul Gonzalez, Argentine Gonzalo Higuain, Dutchman Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Portuguese legend Cristiano Ronaldo, and maintained his place in the team. And all these stars are gone, while one other player may not have been able to resist the intense competition in a club like Real Madrid, the most titled and trophies in Europe.
Benzema received the captain’s armband and the helm of leadership after Sergio Ramos left for Paris Saint-Germain, and became a leader of “Merenghi”, its scorer and playmaker, and the one who had the greatest influence on the “dynamism” of the team, which appeared very clearly in the ending season in which he gathered “ Royal” between winning the local league “La Liga” and the European Champions League “Champions League”, and even Karim surpassed himself, because of his leadership qualifications, a sense of scoring and a comprehensive vision of the stadium, and all these advantages appeared clearly during the last season when he scored 27 goals, and made 12 others In “La Liga”, in addition to scoring 15 goals, in 12 matches in the Champions League, his team won the “Big Ears” Cup, for the fifth time during his career with “Merengi”, which is a record.
With Benzema’s return to the national team after a long absence, he managed to lead the “Rooster” to victory in the European Nations League last season, and booked himself a fixed place in the team’s attack.
And this week, Benzema silenced the tongues who had previously criticized and attacked him during his few lean seasons, and he responded to them by scoring in Barcelona during the “El Clasico” match in the ninth round of La Liga “3-1”.
The most important thing that distinguishes “Karim Hafez Mustafa Benzema” and this is his full name, as he is of Arab-Algerian origin, he puts all his talent, capabilities and skills in the service of his club and his country alike.
The biggest dream of this veteran “French rooster” is to win with his country the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, after he was denied participation in the World Cup in Russia 2018, due to the decision to exclude him.
And the cup would be the best conclusion to his career with the national team, but he intends to continue for a long time with Real Madrid, the maker of his glory, as long as his feet are able to carry him. During the award ceremony held by France Football magazine on Monday evening at the Théâtre de Chatelet in the French capital, Paris, Benzema did not fail to present his prize to the entire French people, despite it being an individual prize, and to thank all the men who influenced his football career, starting with Jean-Michel Ola, president of Olympique Lyonnais, who predicted him a brilliant future in football, and the first to help him move to Real Madrid, also praised the Spaniard Florentino Perez, president of the Royal Club, who embraced him since his arrival at the club in 2009, and trusted his talent and did not neglect it. Even in the worst seasons, when his level declined.
On the level of players who influenced the formation of his footballing personality, he singled out two great stars, one of whom is the son of his country Zinedine Zidane, and the other the Brazilian “phenomenon” Ronaldo, and said that he considers them a “role model” and a role model for him during his long career, indicating that no matter what he did, he could not It reaches what the “legends” reached.
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