Karim Benzema has to miss the World Cup in Qatar. The striker sustained a thigh injury during training with France earlier on Saturday and that now costs him his participation in the tournament. L’Equipe previously reported that the first group match against Australia would come too early anyway, but it does not stop there. France has until Monday evening to make any changes in the selection.
Benzema had been suffering from his knee and hamstring lately and initially seemed to have suffered a setback in training. Initially, French media reported that it was one of his existing injuries, after which RTL reported that it was a dike injury. The concerns of national coach Didier Deschamps and his staff were immediately such that it was not ruled out that the star attacker would have to miss the entire tournament. That fear has now become reality.
Both Benzema and Manchester United defender Raphaël Varane, who sustained a thigh injury in the 1-1 game against Chelsea at the end of October, participated in the warm-up of group training on Friday. On Saturday, the duo was supposed to complete training with their teammates, but Benzema had to drop out prematurely. This year’s Ballon d’Or winner would go through the barrier of a hundred caps at the World Cup. Benzema will therefore definitely not succeed in this during this tournament.
Due to Benzema’s absence, Olivier Giroud seems to be his preferred replacement at the point of attack. The AC Milan striker was also a basic player during the 2018 World Cup in Russia and has also shown to be in good shape in Serie A. Unlike Benzema, Varane seems to have come through the group training well.
This article is an update of an earlier news item. The comments under the message may therefore be less up-to-date.
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