It’s ancient history for Karim Benzema. A year ago, the 2022 Ballon d’Or was experiencing a nightmare in Saudi Arabia: his coach at the time (Nuno Espirito Santo) had given him a bad reception, Al-Ittihad, reigning champion, had missed his start to the season and the supporters had targeted their star player from Real Madrid. Times have changed a lot. Al-Ittihad took a completely different course with a French coach (Laurent Blanc) and French players (N’Golo Kanté, Houssem Aouar and Moussa Diaby) or French-speaking players (Danilo Pereira and Fabinho).
Buoyed in particular by the 10 goals and three assists of “KB9”, Al-Ittihad sits on the ranking of the Saudi Pro League after 13 days, with an impressive record of 12 victories and one defeat. The Tigers concluded the calendar year with a success against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr (2-1). Laurent Blanc and his staff then took the players to training in Oman, for a friendly meeting scheduled for last Friday (4-1 victory, double from Benzema), before a two-week break.
Benzema, a Lyonnais with the Lion King
Karim Benzema started his winter vacation by flying to Tanzania “with family”, according to local media PNTV Kiswahili. The Lyonnais has chosen a superb destination, which offers immense natural reserves like in Kenya (the other East African country well known for its safaris). The Benzemas are not “chilling” on the tourist island of Zanzibar, they have gone on an adventure to the Serengeti National Park, in the north of the country. This is where Simba Kopje (Lion Hill) is located, which is said to have inspired the creators of the Lion King from Disney Studios.
The 37-year-old father often takes advantage of his vacations to spend time with his children, often on Reunion Island. Benzema has four children, he had Mélia in 2014 and Nouri in 2020 with his first partner Chloé de Launay and Ibrahim between the two (in 2017) with Cora Gauthier. The former French international is now in a relationship with an American model, Jordan Ozuna, with whom he had a child last year.
