[Curiosities] 17 curiosities about Karim Benzema

[#Wittels-]

Everything you need to know about King Karim!

Karim Benzema is a French professional footballer who currently plays as a striker for Real Madrid. He was born on December 19, 1987 in Lyon, France, and began his football career at a young age. Benzema is of Algerian descent and his parents are soon from Algeria.

Benzema began his professional career at Lyon, where he quickly established himself as one of the young promises of French football. He helped Lyon win the Ligue 1 title four times in a row (2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08) and was named Ligue 1 Player of the Year in 2008. In 2009, Benzema moved to Real Madrid in an operation valued at around 35 million euros, where he has since become one of the most successful and iconic players in the club's history.

Throughout his career, Benzema has been known for his impressive goal-scoring abilities, technical skills, ability to drop deeper and link up with midfielders and physique. He is an excellent dribbler and is capable of creating scoring opportunities for himself and his teammates.

Benzema has won numerous national and international titles with Real Madrid, including five UEFA Champions League titles and four La Liga titles. He is currently the second top scorer in the history of Real Madrid, with 342 goals, only behind Cristiano Ronaldo.

In addition to his success at club level, Benzema had also been a key player for the French national team. He has represented France at several major international tournaments, including the 2014 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2008 and 2021, scoring 37 goals for his country. He announced his retirement from the national team after the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Off the pitch, Benzema is known for his reserved and calm personality. He rarely speaks to the media and prefers to keep his private life out of the public eye. Benzema is a devout Muslim and observes Ramadan, and has been involved in various charitable causes over the years, including children's education and cancer research.

Benzema has also faced controversy throughout his career. In 2015, he was embroiled in a blackmail scandal that led to his being banned from the French national team for several years. However, he was eventually reinstated to the team in 2021. Benzema is generally highly regarded as one of the best soccer players of his generation and a true icon of the sport.

 

The fastest goal in the history of the Clásico
During Real Madrid's record-breaking 2011-12 season, in which they won the league with 100 points and 121 goals, Benzema was responsible for another record.

The then 23-year-old scored the opening goal 21 seconds after kick-off, which became the fastest goal ever scored in a Clásico, a record that still stands today.

I could have played for the Algerian national team
Benzema was born to Hafid Benzema and Wahida Djebbara, who were French citizens of Algerian descent. Given his Argentine roots, the Argentine Football Federation tried to convince Benzema to represent the Algerian national team, but his heart leaned towards representing Les Bleus.

"It is the country of my parents, it is in my heart," said the Frenchman in an interview with RMC in 2006.

But hey, from a sporting point of view, it is true that I will play for the French team. He will always be available for the French team.

"It's more on the sporting side, because Algeria is my country, you see, my parents are from there. France, on the other hand... it's more of a sporting thing, that's all."

Benzema was a ball boy at Lyon
When he was just eight years old, Benzema started playing soccer for his local club, Bron Terraillon. When he scored twice against the Lyon Youth Academy in an Under-10 game, he began to attract the attention of Lyon club officials.

Lyon officials visited it personally and convinced Bron Terraillon to sell it. Serge Santa Cruz, the club's then president, refused to sell it. The deal was finalized after Lyon representatives spoke with Benzema's parents. And that was the time when Benzema worked as a ball boy in Lyon's senior team matches.

Without fear of expressing his opinion in front of Lyon's referents
Benzema had to communicate with the Lyon first team players who were already established when he was promoted to the first team. Early squad players Lyon had at that time included Florent Malouda, Sylvian Wiltord, Eric Abidal and Michael Essien, among others.

Benzema was the butt of jokes when he first met these players, which he did not find very amusing.

He then declared, "Don't laugh, I'm here to take your place."

And he kept his word.

Benzema made 148 appearances for Les Gones, scoring 66 goals and helping Lyon continue their dominance in France at the time.

 

Record an assist on his Lyon debut
Benzema made his debut with the Lyon first team on January 15, 2005, in a Ligue 1 match against Metz. The then 17-year-old came on in the 77th minute for Pierre-Alain Frau, with the tie yet to be broken.

After Juninho opened the scoring in the 84th minute, Benzema gave Bryan Bergougnoux a push, who made it 2-0 in the 86th minute.

Coincidentally, both Bergougnoux and Benzema came off the bench at the same time.

Scored on his debut for France
On November 9, 2006, Raymond Domenech granted Benzema his first call-up with the senior team for the next friendly match against Greece, which would be played on November 15. However, an injury while playing for Lyon forced him to withdraw from the squad.

He had to wait more than four months for his France debut, which came against Austria during their UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.

Benzema started the match as a substitute. At half-time, the striker came on for Djibril Cissé and scored the only goal of the game, from a free kick by Samir Nasri.

Two of his brothers were also soccer players.
Benzema, the third youngest child, grew up in Bron, an eastern suburb of Lyon, with eight other siblings. Gressy and Sabri, his younger brothers, were soccer players.

While Gressy was forced to leave football due to injuries in 2012, Sabri was reported to have a similar playing style to Karim and could have made a name for himself had he made the leap from semi-pro football rather than resign.

Zinedine Zidane advised Benzema to lose weight
Upon his return to Real Madrid as sports director for the 2011-12 season, Zidane and Laurent Blanc advised Benzema to lose weight.

He traveled to Merano, Italy, to a high performance clinic where he received weight loss therapy. The clinic stage was finally successful because the striker weighed eight kilos less when he showed up for the preseason.

Benzema carried out physical exercise to increase his muscle mass during his stay at the clinic. In preseason, the striker was impressive, scoring eight goals in seven games.

For his pre-season exploits, José Mourinho selected him as the team's first striker. Mourinho was later given credit for Benzema's transformation, but he refused to take full ownership, instead crediting the front.

"Karim now sees football the way I see football," said the Portuguese coach before the start of the season.

 

Second oldest player to win the Ballon d'Or.
Following his exploits in the 2021-22 season, where he won the Pichichi Trophy and was the top scorer in the UEFA Champions League, as well as winning both La Liga and the UCL, Benzema was awarded the 2022 Ballon d'Or on October 17, 2022. That made him the first Frenchman since Zidane (1998) to win this individual award.

In doing so, he became the oldest player since Stanley Matthews to win the Ballon d'Or. Matthews won the award at the first Ballon d'Or ceremony in 1956, at the age of 41 years and 10 months. When Benzema won the award, he was 34 years and 302 days old.

Oldest player to score a Champions League hat-trick
When Real Madrid visited Stamford Bridge on 6 April 2022 to face Chelsea in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final, Benzema scored a hat-trick to become the oldest player to score a treble in the most specific club competition in Europe. 34 years and 108 days.

 

Most assists in the history of Real Madrid
Benzema is already the second top scorer in the history of Real Madrid, with 342 goals in 634 games.

However, according to Transfermarkt, he also has 164 assists, more than any other player in the club's history.

Coincidentally, while Ronaldo is the top scorer with 450 goals in 438 games, he trails Benzema on the assists list with 130.

Most appearances for Real Madrid by a non-Spanish player.
With 634 appearances, Benzema is the record for Real Madrid appearances as a foreigner. They are followed by Marcelo and Roberto Carlos, with 546 and 527 appearances, respectively.

 

Most goals scored by a French player in history.
Benzema is one of the best, if not the best, French player to ever set foot on a soccer field.

However, when he does hang up his boots, he will be recorded as the greatest French goalscorer of all time, ahead of Thierry Henry.

The 35-year-old has scored 445 senior goals in 879 appearances, 66 of those goals for Lyon, 342 for Real Madrid and 37 for France.

His name is in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Benzema holds the Guinness World Record for scoring in 18 consecutive seasons in the UEFA Champions League, starting with the 2005-06 season. Lionel Messi is the other player with whom he shares a record.

 

Among the very few players who have worn the numbers 9, 10 and 11
Before Benzema arrived at Real Madrid, he wore the number 10 on his back at Lyon. When he joined Los Blancos in 2009, he was given number 11 as Ronaldo played under number 9.

However, when club legend Raúl left the club the next summer, Cristiano chose his preferred number 7, after which Benzema got number 9. The French striker has been Real Madrid's number 9, both figuratively and literally ever since.

 

Benzema has not yet had surgery on his injured finger
During a La Liga match against Real Betis on 13 January 2019, Benzema was on the receiving end of a collision with Betis defender Marc Bartra.

The incident resulted in Benzema breaking the little finger on his right hand and he was advised to undergo surgery. However, he was also told that there would be a two-month recovery period.

Faced with Real Madrid's problems during the 2018-19 season, Benzema decided not to have surgery to continue playing.

The Frenchman underwent surgery after the end of 2018-19, but did not finish his rehabilitation, which prevented his finger from healing completely.

“Yes, they operated on me, but when they operate you have to be off work for two months,” he said at a press conference in October 2021.

"I hurt [my finger] again, but I don't have time to stop and have another operation, so I wear the bandage when I play."

Benzema plays with the blindfold on to this day, and many believe it to be a good luck charm.

 

Link: https://www.goal.com/es-co/listados/17-curiosidades-sobre-karim-benzema/bltc8d559c4cf369fae#cs5bb5fbe14f13b95d