[Sport] Benzema's impressive praise that surprised Gallardo and the Doll's response in the run-up to the Club World Cup

[FNX Magokiler]

Marcelo Gallardo already knows what pressure is like directing Al Ittihad. Several of the questions from the local press, in the context of his team's debut this Wednesday against Auckland of New Zealand for the Club World Cup, emphasized the hierarchy of the squad and the poor results it has been obtaining in the Arab league.

“Beyond making a diagnosis of the past, it is already there and I cannot stop at that now. I've been there for only twenty days, so I can make a diagnosis of what happened, but I can't stop at that but think ahead and try to find a way for the team to play as well as possible," said the Argentine coach.

“It must also be said - Gallardo continued - that we have had, since I arrived, a very tight schedule with many injured players in the process of recovery and we have been negotiating our commitments in the best possible way. Now we are settling in, recovering players and studying the different possibilities of developing small partnerships in the team to determine a way of playing from a tactical and strategic point of view.”

Gallardo was surprised at the press conference held at the King Abdullah Sports Center stadium, the main venue of the Club World Cup, when next to him, and when asked how he feels with the Argentine technical director at Al Ittihad, Benzema indicated : “I am very happy to work with him, because he did very well in a very difficult tournament like the Argentine one and he is very close to the players. I like that a lot because it is always good to be able to sit down and talk about football with your coach, but I also want to say that he was a very good player and he only played with one or two touches, something that was not easy.”

 

 

These statements motivated Gallardo to laugh and a small response from the surprised Argentine. “If he saw me play it means I'm not that old,” the coach joked. Gallardo played for Monaco between 1999 and 2003, and then for Paris Saint Germain between 2007 and 2008, while Benzema was born in Lyon and played for Olympique in that city between 2004 and 2009.

Gallardo returned the flowers to the Frenchman by stating that one of the motivations for coming to Al Ittihad “was to coach players like Karim, who not by chance managed to remain in the elite for so many years, beyond discovering a different league and "Try to complement high-quality players."

Both Gallardo and Benzema agreed to highlight the importance of psychology in football when they were asked about the chances of winning the Club World Cup by the local press. “I have hierarchy on the campus, but we have to work on a collective idea. The important thing is that I have players with a winning mentality and that shortens the path,” said the Argentine.

"I understand the fans' enthusiasm, which is mine too, but I think that first we have to think about tomorrow's game, our debut, against Auckland," said Benzema, who added that "today's football is played in the field, eleven against eleven, and not on paper and whoever has more ambition, more strength and more hunger ends up winning.”

 

https://www.infobae.com/deportes/2023/12/12/el-impresionante-elogio-de-benzema-que-sorprendio-a-gallardo-y-la-respuesta-del-muneco-en-la-previa-del-mundial-de-clubes/