France’s preparations for the World Cup suffered another alarming disruption in the hours leading up to the start of the tournament. Karim Benzema, such a crucial figure on and off the pitch, tore a quadriceps muscle on Saturday night. The injury itself is expected to take three weeks to heal, but the scars of missing this World Cup at the age of 34 will linger for much longer.
Benzema, who arrived in Doha in the final stages of recovering from a knee and hamstring problem, was training with the group for the first time after working separately with the fitness trainers. One second they thought of increasing his involvement, Benzema’s next involvement was over. An MRI at a local hospital confirmed the bad news and once Didier Deschamps consulted the France team doctor, there was nothing left to do but console the player and return to a drawing board that has already had more than its fair share of erasures. .
Karim @Benzema withdrew from the World Cup with a thigh injury.
The whole team shares Karim’s disappointment and wishes him a speedy recovery 💙#ProudToBeBlues pic.twitter.com/fclx9pFkGz
— French team ⭐⭐ (@FrenchTeam) November 19, 2022
“I am extremely sad for Karim who made this World Cup a major ambition,” said Deschamps. “Despite this last blow for the French team, I have full confidence in my group. We will give everything to meet the immense challenge that awaits us.
Although he can never say never, it would be highly unlikely that Benzema will get another shot at the World Cup. He will be 35 next month. This tournament promised a lot for him personally after two outstanding years, culminating in his Ballon D’Or award. A year that saw him climb so many pedestals – La Liga’s top player and top scorer in 2022 and a centerpiece of Real Madrid’s relentlessly spectacular road to Champions League glory – ended in pain.
The front page of L’Equipe summed up the deflationary mood. The title “Le Ballon De Plomb” said it all – the leading ball.
The front page of Sunday November 20 > https://t.co/nuwnN3afFj pic.twitter.com/D7G9DkRybD
— THE TEAM (@theteam) November 19, 2022
Benzema remains on 97 caps for France. He hoped to reach his century here. No doubt his international stats would be higher were it not for the off-the-pitch scandal that kept him out of the French set-up for five years. He was involved in blackmailing a teammate, Mathieu Valbuena, and received a one-year suspended sentence.
For this reason, it was surprising that Deschamps suddenly changed his tone to end Benzema’s exile and recall him to the France squad for the 2020 European Championship (played in 2021), after missing a Euro at home in 2016 and the 2018 World Cup which France won without him.
Deschamps still has at his disposal the attacking trio that spearheaded France’s World Cup triumph in Russia four years ago. Olivier Giroud is still going strong, with Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann knowing how to tune around the target man. In-form Barcelona striker Ousmane Dembele is touted as an alternative.
France intended to tinker with this successful forward line from 2018, especially given Benzema’s status and the exciting progress made by Christopher Nkunku. But both are injured.
The trickle-down effect of major player withdrawals appears to have only made the situation worse. Every few days, another join falls from the team’s scaffolding. France have influences ripped from all major areas of the squad: Mike Maignan was left out of the goalkeeping collection, Prensel Kimpembe couldn’t get into the defence, the midfielder’s spine double break of Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante’s pitch is infuriating. Now two strikers have been forced to step down within five days.
The word that came up in many interviews before this World Cup is “curse‘. Curse. Until recently, this mainly referred to the curse of defending champions failing to make it out of the group stage of the next competition. But Deschamps must feel cursed to lose so many critical players so close to kick-off in Qatar.
The three candidates to replace Benzema in the squad are Martin Terrier, Wissam Ben Yedder and Moussa Diaby. France have until Monday evening to organize a replacement, although replacing Benzema and what he embodies is not going to be easy for anyone.
France open their World Cup defense on Tuesday against Australia.
(Photo: FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)