Deschamps’ contempt for Benzema

On November 19, the news broke in Doha when it emerged that Karim Benzema was leaving the French concentration in Qatar when he suffered in training “an injury to the quadriceps of his left leg.” When Karim noticed the discomfort, he went to the Aspetar clinic in Doha, accompanied by the French team doctor, Frank Le Gal. This diagnosis was published and Benzema also communicated it to the Real Madrid medical services. What is striking is that the player himself, who knows his body like no one else, knew that the mishap was not serious and that in a maximum of 10 days he would be available to compete. In fact, his initial idea was to stay in the concentration with Les Bleus to force his entry into the team at most for the round of 16 crossing. They would only miss the first qualifying round, in which France faced Australia, Denmark and Tunisia. Benzema was sure that by the round of 16 match, in this case against Poland on December 4, he would have fully recovered from his minor muscle injury. But His surprise came when he was in his room at the Al Messila hotel where the Deschamps team stayed in Doha. There was a knock on his door and the French coach appeared together with doctor Frank Le Gal.

The doctor took the lead with a coldness that left Benzema perplexed: “I’m sorry Karim, but you have to go.” Deschamps kept a very striking silence, with a lack of sensitivity that allowed the Ballon d’Or to open his eyes to what was happening. Deschamps was literally ‘cleaning’ him from the call-up and thus had the perfect excuse to line up Giroud from the start, a player Deschamps always preferred over the Real Madrid star. Logically, Karim showed his pride and did not want to argue about the possibility of staying to recover in order to arrive in time to help his team. He got the message, packed his suitcase and caught a quick flight to Madrid. The next day he already started his recovery in Valdebebas. And just a week later she went on vacation to Reunion Island. The injury was completely healed and, what is worse, Doctor Le Gal admitted to Karim that this cold and calculated message had been an order from Deschamps. He was a simple ‘errand’.

That explains the coldness and disdain with which Deschamps spoke whenever the media asked him due to the possibility that Benzema would help in the final stretch of the World Cup, given that he was still registered on the official FIFA list as he had not been replaced by any other striker. “Raising the question about Benzema is a bit clumsy. Next question…”, the coach replied with a haughty and challenging tone. Karim, more elegant and polite, responded on his networks as France progressed in the Qatari tournament: “It’s time, all together, let’s go. Allez Les Bleus”. All this helped Benzema to make the decision that he announced this week: his definitive withdrawal from the calls with France. ”I made the effort and the mistakes that were necessary to be where I am today. I’m proud of it! I wrote my story and ours ends.” Gone are 97 games with Les Bleus and 37 goals. The current Ballon d’Or did not deserve such an end with his selection, but Deschamps was the one who caused everything…