They didn’t even wait for La Roja’s funeral to be over to bring out the party favors and the mushroom. Eight minutes after congratulating Spain for its “extraordinary tournament and for reaching the final” of the League of Nations on Sunday, Real Madrid set out again on a crusade on social networks in its “Operation Karim”. A little bit of propaganda like the North Korean regime knows so well to showcase the last of the Mohicans, KB9: “Congratulations to our extraordinary player, Karim Benzema, Golden Ball. »There it is, Golden Ball.
Congratulations to @equipedfrance and to all the football fans of France for the extraordinary title achieved by #NationsLeague and congratulations to our spectacular player @Benzema, Golden Ball.
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) October 10, 2021
We are not fooled, einh, Real Madrid knows how to sell its players in the race for the Grail, especially when the obvious is not obvious. Remember Luka Modric in 2018, who had benefited from a five-star White House campaign, without even calling on Bygmalion, to jump Antoine Griezmann a few meters from the finish. In short, Real and the Golden Ball, especially after the reign of Cristiano Ronaldo, it’s a love story (nine award-winning players in total). So, if we can continue the tradition with Benzema, let’s not be shy.
Huge stats in club and selection
Especially since the club of the Spanish capital can rely on something solid to promote the record of its player: an attacker who wears a pale team at arm’s length, golazos do you want some, an armband captain when Marcelo does not play (that is to say all the time) and, now, a return to the France team completely successful after five years of absence. “Frankly, it’s a crazy thing, admires Steve Savidan, the former player of Valenciennes. He had a strong capacity for adaptation, integration and questioning. I hoped he would perform, but I did not expect this comeback in Blues to be so good. “
Enough to make it the 2021 Golden Ball? “I don’t see him out of the top 3,” says Savidan. This trophy, for me, goes for whoever has the most impact on his team. And Karim, he’s been wearing Real Madrid on his own for several years. He is a magnet for the ball, for pressure, for polemics… This relieves the other players of an enormous weight. He is so decisive [9 buts en 8 matchs cette saison, 23 en 34 l’an passé]. Even in the national team, he has enormous stats. “Indeed, the France team has never lost when the former Lyonnais scores: 26 games with a goal from Benzema, 24 wins and 2 draws. Come on, pack, it’s weighed.
He didn’t win anything with Real this year
“He is simply the best striker in the world at the moment,” sums up Amara Simba, the former PSG striker. He has a mind of steel, because it takes it to integrate and succeed in a group that has been world champion. When we see his physical condition, we tell ourselves that he put football first in his life and that now he wants to chain the trophies. “Including the Golden Ball, as the Nueve said in the Spanish newspaper As, a few days ago :
“I will do everything possible and I will work to the maximum to have this great trophy, in order, I hope, to win it one day and realize this dream that I have had since I was a child”
“The only downside, perhaps, in the candidacy of Benzema, is that he has not won anything this season, except the League of Nations, which is still not a major title, admits Amara Simba. If he had won the Champions League or even made a final with Madrid and a better run at the Euro, the question would not even arise. Unfortunately for him, Benzema has to do every weekend with Nacho, Lucas Vazquez and the terribly fickle Vinicius. Not the best partners to dream bigger. Even to face the terrible Moldovans of Sheriff Tiraspol.
A last minute surprise?
And then there are also the opponents. With the two regulars of the place, Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. “Of the two, it is more CR7 which will be able to compete with Benzema,” assures the former French international. It is inescapable. He arrives at Manchester United, he scores. In Portugal, he is decisive and still scores [record de buts en sélection d’Ali Daei battu, avec 111 réalisations]. Messi has been non-existent since his arrival in Paris, apart from his goal against Manchester. Afterwards, with the Copa América won with Argentina… ”
And then, we are not immune to a surprise: A Kylian Mbappé who appears out of nowhere, “even if he has not won anything in the club either,” says Mr. Bicylette of the Parc des Princes , a Robert Lewandowski who caps everyone at the post, “even if he is less bankable than all the others,” says Savigoal, or a Ngolo Kanté who recovers a new ball, even “if his absence with the Blues during the League of Nations can be detrimental to him, ”adds the ex-Valenciennois. “In any case, the vote is often done more on the name than on the performance,” concludes Savidan. Suddenly, we decided to trust only the juror from the Central African Republic. Yes, just because he voted Karim Benzema for the 2018 Ballon d’Or. Time will prove you right.
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