Ballon d’Or 2022: When Karim Benzema “put misery” on the defenses of L1 – Eurosport FR

At 34, Karim Benzema is on the roof of world football. Before dominating the Champions League but also La Liga head and shoulders with Real Madrid, the Ballon d’Or 2022 also did damage to Ligue 1 defenses during his younger years. In 112 French league games, the native of Lyon found the net 43 times and delivered 23 assists. Not to mention his ten other achievements, Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue combined. At the start of 2005, the striker from the OL academy, who had just celebrated his 17th birthday, was preparing to start in the top flight. In front of Sylvain Wiltord, Sidney Govou, Florent Malouda and other Freds, Karim Benzema gives a speech, which he concludes with these words that have become famous: “If I’m here, it’s to take your place”. Month after month, the future best player on the planet will move from words to deeds. Ballon d’OrWhat Benzema owes Ronaldo9 HOURS AGOThe best striker of his time in L1When he wore the colors of Nancy, Pape Diakhaté faced him until 2007 before he left for Dynamo kyiv. Entering the Lyon offensive rotation with Fred, John Carew or Milan Baros, Karim Benzema had already caught the eye of the former Senegalese international defender. “Before he broke into Ligue 1, Issiar Dia had spoken to me about it. They had known each other in the young France team. He had told me that it was a phenomenon on the ground and we did not was surprised”, confides the current coach of the U21s of the Royal Excelsior. Pape Diakhaté is not afraid of words: Karim Benzema “is by far the best striker” he has met in L1. “On a technical level and in terms of intelligence, he was already well above it. You could see that he already had a lot of maturity and a cool head. Really cold, even. -sides. He was always focused and he was a killer in front of goal”, remembers the ex-Nanceien. Karim Benzema in the duel with Sébastien Puygrenier in October 2006.Credit: ImagoAt the dawn of his 20th birthday, Karim Benzema “was already watched like milk on fire” by all the defenses of L1. Even Pablo Correa’s locked block was far from serene. Pope Diakhate again. “He was a player who did everything to avoid the duel. He was clever and knew how to fit between the line of midfielders and defenders, he says. As a central defender, we couldn’t get him so as not to leave spaces behind our backs. That was and still is his strength. In small spaces, he also excelled. He is the best player I have met in this register. The ball always stuck to him on his feet when he was checking. It sometimes felt like the ball was deflated (laughs). However, he received strong passes slammed on the ground.””From pariah to national pride, Benzema is finally unanimous”A in the summer of 2007, Alain Perrin replaced Gérard Houllier on the OL bench. And from the start of the season, the new Gones technician bet on Karim Benzema in attack, as well as the other jewel of the 1987 generation, Hatem Ben Arfa. Winning shot. The future Madrid player scored five goals in six French league matches before moving to Metz on September 15. At Stade Saint-Symphorien, he scored his first hat-trick in L1 and knocked out the promoted Moselle in 38 minutes (5-1). Karim was discreet and didn’t need to talk a lot for us to know that he was going to become a very big “He had simply flown over the meeting, remembers Cédric Barbosa, FC Metz midfielder in this 2007-08 season. At the finish, he was really very skilful for a 19-year-old player. We knew he was destined for a very good career.” Karim Benzema becomes the fashionable striker in Ligue 1. But not in the way of Kylian Mbappé, ten years later. “The media coverage was less important at that time and we did not immediately make a marketing product of it, underlines the former player of Evian Thonon-Gaillard. Karim was more discreet and did not need much speak so that we know that he was going to become a very great. “A future great who also knows how to shine in hot moments. On January 27, 2008, Saint-Etienne dominated (1-0) and seemed well on its way to defeating the Indian sign against its Lyon rival, fourteen years after its last victory in the derby at Geoffroy-Guichard. 92nd minute, free kick from 25 meters for OL. Karim Benzema grabs the ball. Injured in a shoulder that evening and present in the stands of Saint-Etienne, the former goalkeeper of ASSE Jérémie Janot tells the rest. Karim Benzema scored in the last seconds of the ASSE-OL derby (1-1) in January 2008.Credit: Imago”When he puts the ball down, I say to myself: ‘He can do everything but I would be surprised if he scored from a free kick.’ And there, he deceives Jody (Viviani). Taking responsibility in such a derby, in the last seconds, that already proved his exceptional strength of character. It was already a phenomenon. From his first matches in L1, and especially during the derbies, he has always lived up to his reputation. He didn’t need 50 to score”, he underlines. As for Pape Diakhaté, Karim Benzema is “the best striker” that Jérémie Janot has faced in L1. Without dispute. “What has always marked me with him is his speed of execution, in dribbling, striking, specifies the ex-Stéphanois, describing a player “respectful and who did not play a role”. him, anything could happen at any time. At 25 meters, he could trigger a shot, on a harmless cross he could cut the trajectory of the ball, on set pieces he was often there on the second ball. He was difficult to read in his movements, always moving to the right, to the left, in depth or in retreat. He was elusive.” He had such a palette that you never knew what to expect from himOL won their first Coupe de France-championship double in 2008. A performance he largely owes to Karim Benzema, top scorer in Ligue 1 this season there, ahead of the Marseillais Mamadou Niang and Djibril Cissé, with 20 achievements. A totally deserved throne according to Jérémie Janot. “Of all the strikers I’ve met, he was the most dangerous because his game was so varied. It could be a left-footed wrap, a right-footed strike, a dive, a hook, a header This variety in the game made it difficult for the goalkeepers, he notes. Sidney Govou was power and speed. But we knew his register. Same for Pedro Miguel Pauleta who made few calls in depth. Karim Benzema had such a palette that you never knew what to expect from him. He put me in misery but he also made me burn (laughs). “In 2008-09, for his last season in Ligue 1, Karim Benzema continues on the same line (note: 17 goals in L1) but does not prevent the loss of the title of champion of France of the Lyonnais, who remained undefeated for seven years. The French international scored his last goal with OL on May 23, 2009 at Gerland when they received Caen (3-1, 37th day of Ligue 1). Former left-back Reynald Lemaître was there. “Before facing him, we knew we were going to have a difficult evening, recalls the player trained in Caen. He already had this ability not to lose the ball, start from outside the area, use his teammates to go inside. Then he always managed to find a good position to shoot. Already at the time, even if he was capable of high-flying individual actions, he was a player who needed the others and who did extraordinary things thanks to the collective around him. At any moment, he could transform the match.” A few weeks after this meeting, Karim Benzema changed the course of his career by joining Real Madrid. We know the rest…Karim Benzema scored his last goal in L1 during Lyon-Caen (3-1) in 2009.Credit: ImagoBallon d’OrCourtois, 7th amused: “We often forget the goalkeepers…”HE 11 HOURS AGOBallon d’OrWho deserved a better Ballon d’Or ranking?11 HOURS AGO