“It was a beautiful image, a deserved prize,” said Catalan journalist Enric Bonet

“It was a beautiful picture” to see Zinedine Zidane give the trophy to Karim Benzema, declared on franceinfo Monday October 17 Enric Bonet, Catalan journalist based in Paris, correspondent in particular for the Spanish newspaper Publico. He was reacting after the awarding of the Ballon d’Or 2022 to French footballer Karim Benzema, player at Real Madrid. “I found it was almost a kind of redemption for Karim Benzema in his country”adds the journalist.

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“In Spain he has been loved for several years”notes Enric Bonet who nevertheless recalls the player’s business: “It is true that in France he had been very criticized and even condemned almost a year ago in the Valbuena affair. Now he is a player who is very much loved in France.”

Regarding Karim Benzema’s statement when receiving the trophy “a People’s Golden Ball”the Spanish journalist believes that “It makes sense, even more so here at the Théâtre du Châtelet [où avait lieu la cérémonie]hearing the fans outside, euphoric.”

Asked about Karim Benzema’s debut at Real Madrid, the journalist recalls that the player “had been criticized enough during his first years in the team because he didn’t score many goals while he was a striker”. Despite this, Enric Bonet underlines the qualities of the footballer: “But already at the time he was a very complete player, very technical, a little less recognized because he was in the shadow of Christiano Ronaldo.” Still according to the journalist, the Frenchman had to wait for the departure of Christiano Ronaldo to be recognized: “It is from the departure of Christiano Ronaldo in 2018 that he becomes a more important player. During the last season he has become a leader in the Real Madrid team. It is an award that is deserved.”