(Doha) The star of the French world champions lost its luster on Saturday with the package of Karim Benzema, Ballon d’Or struck down by a new injury, an additional blow for the Blues three days before facing the Australia at the World Cup.
The series of injured continues to shake up the French team and the latest episode takes the form of a violent shock: the Real Madrid striker is on the ground, like Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kanté, Mike Maignan, Presnel Kimpembe and Christopher Nkunku.
Convalescent for a month, Benzema hoped to see the end of the tunnel on Saturday, participating in his first collective training with the Blues.
But he had to cut it short, victim of a muscular “injury” in the left thigh, “which will require a three-week recovery period”, explained the Federation in a press release.
“In my life I have never given up but tonight I have to think about the team as I have always done,” reacted the striker on Instagram. “Reason tells me to leave my place to someone who can help our group to have a good World Cup”.
At 34, the center-forward will probably never play a second World Cup, after that of 2014 which he finished as the top French scorer.
To defend its title, the band of Didier Deschamps will have to do without the former Lyonnais, returned to grace after the long banishment (2015-2021) following the “sextape affair”.
More than ever, the star of Paris SG Kylian Mbappé finds himself at the center of expectations.
Possible replacement
The attack tank nevertheless remains well filled for the Blues, with Antoine Griezmann, Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Kingsley Coman, Marcus Thuram, Randal Kolo Muani… and Olivier Giroud, eternal returnee and first applicant to replace Benzema.
“It’s a bit of a good time for me, I feel good physically, in my game, in my club and also in the France team”, reported Thursday the titular center-forward in 2018, crossed out in recent months by the return of “KB9” but still there, at 36 years old.
FIFA regulations allow Deschamps to call up a new player until Monday, the day before France-Australia, to make a last-minute substitution in the event of injury. But he can also decide to keep a group of 25 players.
A rather thick haze has surrounded Benzema’s state of health since mid-October. He had been complaining of persistent discomfort in his right thigh for several weeks, without the nature of his physical problems being clearly established.
He played his last match in full on October 19, an Elche-Real won 3-0 by Madrid with a goal from the Frenchman, crowned Ballon d’Or two days earlier in Paris. And he has only been able to play since then for about thirty minutes on November 2 in the Champions League.
Varane back
The stretch of his recovery period began to raise questions on the eve of the World Cup, in particular his ability to repeat high-intensity efforts in the heat of Qatar.
If it is preferable “to chain the matches” before a big tournament, “Karim is a special case, it is less handicapping than for a midfielder”, however argued Adrien Rabiot, Friday. “He is a very high level player who knows how to manage himself” and, if he is not recovered in the first game, “it will be in the second”, had launched the middle of Juventus.
Benzema will not finally be with the Blues on Tuesday, against Australia, nor on November 26 and 30 against Denmark then Tunisia.
On the other side of the field, in defense, there is still a big question mark behind the name of Raphaël Varane, boss of the young rear guard from the height of his 29 years and 87 selections.
The Manchester United midfielder trained for the first time with the full squad on Saturday afternoon at the Jassim-bin-Hamad stadium in Doha. The recovery protocol seems to be respected without a hitch for the ex-Madrilenian, mowed on October 22 by a worrying injury to the right thigh.
Rare good news in a sea of torment.