Karim Benzema has responded to the news that he will have to miss the World Cup in Qatar. The striker suffered a thigh injury earlier on Saturday during training with France and that now costs him his participation in the tournament. In a short post on Instagram, the striker thanks everyone for the many statements of support.
Benzema indicates on Instagram that he is making his place in the World Cup selection available to a fit player. “In my life I never gave up, but now I have to think about the team, as I always have,” writes the 97-time France international. “That is why I am relinquishing my place in the squad to someone who can help our team achieve a great performance at the World Cup. Thank you for all your messages of support.” Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and Luka Modric, among others, support Benzema with a reaction. Benzema would go through the barrier of a hundred international matches at the World Cup. This year’s Ballon d’Or winner will definitely not succeed in this during this tournament.
National coach Didier Deschamps has until Monday evening to call up a possible replacement for Benzema. Wissam Ben Yedder is a frequently mentioned name in international media and L’Équipe also puts forward the AS Monaco striker as the most logical replacement. In addition, the French sports newspaper also mentions the names of Anthony Martial (Manchester United), Moussa Diaby (Bayer Leverkusen), Thomas Lemar (Seville) and Martin Terrier (Stade Rennais).
Benzema’s injury is a huge downer for Deschamps. Earlier, the national coach also had to draw a line through the names of Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig), Presnel Kimpbembe (Paris Saint Germain), Mike Maignan (AC Milan), N’Golo Kanté (Chelsea) and Paul Pogba (Juventus). For France, the World Cup in Qatar starts on Tuesday with a group match against Australia. After that, there are still duels with Denmark (November 26) and Tunisia (November 30) in Group D.
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