It was one of the best kept secrets, and one that everyone wanted to know. What really happened on November 20, 2022, two days before the Blues’ first match against Australia (4-1), when Karim Benzema slammed the door on the selection? Announced injured, the 2022 Ballon d’Or nevertheless left it hanging three months later by posting the following message on Instagram: “but what audacity”. A story posted only a few minutes after the words of Didier Deschamps, who came to give his version to Parisian stating that his player had to leave the rally due to an injury.
At the time, Daniel Riolo had contested this version, using sparse language when discussing the Blues coach, in the After on RMC : “Deschamps lied to us from A to Z, but lying is something he handles perfectly and has done so for years,” the journalist declared in particular, adding that Deschamps was “in all the beautiful but also shady stories of French football.” DD filed a complaint for defamation, and went to court this Thursday to “regain one’s honor”and give his truths.
“I didn’t have to make a radical decision. He (Benzema) had already made his decision.
“When I arrived at the gathering on November 14, 2022, after the medical examination, the doubt I had was persistent. It is my role to anticipate and recall a player, that is what I did by recalling Marcus Thuram in case Karim Benzema had a problem during the rally.he explains, recalling that the Madrilenian had only played 26 minutes in the last 5 matches with his club. DD also specifies that Benzema could only have played again from a hypothetical quarter-final, but not before. Above all, he assures that he did not have to make a radical decision, the player having been aware of the situation himself. Words which extinguish the idea of a possible new quarrel between the two men.
“I find myself facing a collapsed player and I understand it. I make sure I can comfort him, talk to him, by asking him the question: what do you think about it? He told me: it’s dead (…) Karim had already decided that it was doneestimates Deschamps. I didn’t have to make a radical decision. He had already made his decision. I had someone in front of me who was resigned. Me, losing Karim Benzema as coach, do you think that will make me smile? He decides to return because it was irremediable.
I get up around 9 a.m. and I learn from Mr. Sanhadji that Karim has left. I sent him a message when he arrived because I couldn’t greet him. He responded 20 minutes later (…) To be able to imagine that he could have been in condition to play… I had discussions with Karim after his departure, he was on vacation in the islands, he was with his family, he told me that he was resting. When you read the words used for a player that I supposedly threw out in the middle of the night from base camp, I don’t think he would have said those words.» Benzema’s response, perhaps one day, is still awaited.
