| Full name | Karim Benzema |
|---|
| Date of birth | 19 December 1987 (1987-12-19) (age 23) |
| Place of birth | Lyon, France |
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) |
| Playing position | Striker |
Karim Benzema (born 19 December 1987) is a French
football player who currently plays as a
striker for the
La Liga club
Real Madrid and internationally represents the
French national team.
Benzema came through the
youth academy at Lyon and has been
capped at senior level for France. He played in
UEFA Euro 2008 and was the
top goalscorer in Ligue 1 for the
2007–08 season, just three seasons after making his professional debut. This was also his breakthrough season which saw him earn many awards and a new contract which resulted in him becoming one of the highest-paid footballers in
France. He signed for Real Madrid in July 2009, on a six year contract
Personal life
Benzema was born in
Lyon, to parents of
Algerian descent.
Benzema grew up with nine
siblings and his father Hafid in the nearby town of
Bron.
His grandfather, Da Lakehal Benzema, lived in the village of Tighzert, located in the northern town of
Beni Djellil in
Algeria before migrating to Lyon, where he eventually settled in the 1950s.
On 18 April 2010, it was first reported by French
television service
M6 that four members of the French national team were being investigated for their roles as clients of a
prostitution ring that was being operated inside of a
Paris nightclub with some of the women possibly being underage. The report also stated that two of the players were already questioned as witnesses by
judge André Dando and a group of
magistrates. The report described the two players as being one who “is a major player in a big foreign club” and that the other “plays in the championship of France Ligue 1".
Later that day, the players were discovered to be
Franck Ribéry and
Sidney Govou.
The other two players were later discovered to be Benzema and
Hatem Ben Arfa. Benzema was alleged to have had a sexual rendezvous with a prostitute when she was 16 years of age, an act Benzema has denied through his lawyer.
On 29 April, the country's Secretary of State for Sports
Rama Yade, after refusing to publicly comment on the case in its infancy, declared that any player placed under investigation should not represent the France national team.
The following day, a judicial source confirmed that Benzema would not be questioned, if at all, before the start of the
2010 FIFA World Cup.
On 20 July, Benzema was questioned by Paris
police and, following questioning, was
indicted by judge Dando on the charge of "solicitation of a minor prostitute".
Club career
Lyon
Breakthrough season
For the
2007–08 season, with the likes of
Florent Malouda,
John Carew, and
Sylvain Wiltord all departing from the club, Benzema, despite being 19 at the time, switched to the number 10 shirt and was inserted into the lead striker role. After forming a special relationship with new manager
Alain Perrin, he responded with 31 goals in 51 games. He topped the league with 20 goals, scored four goals in the
UEFA Champions League, one in the
Coupe de la Ligue, and totaled six goals in six
Coupe de France matches, helping Lyon win their first ever
double.
Some of his more dazzling performances that season included a
hat trick against Metz on 15 September,
an
equalizing goal in the 90th minute from a
free kick against
Derby du Rhône rivals
Saint-Étienne,
and a goal against
RC Lens that was nominated for goal of the season by fans.
In the Champions League, Benzema scored an important double against
Rangers at
Ibrox Park on the last match day of
the group stage. The 3–0 victory assured Lyon progression to the knockout rounds.
In
the knockout rounds, Lyon faced
Manchester United and Benzema continued to score, this time it was from outside the
penalty box in the first leg match which ended in a 1–1 draw
and United eventually won the tie 1–2 on aggregate. Manchester United manager
Alex Ferguson and players praised Benzema for his performance.
Lyon president
Jean-Michel Aulas later accused Ferguson of
tapping-up Benzema.
On 13 March 2008, Benzema extended his contract with Lyon until 2013 with a one year extension option
After signing his new contract, Benzema became one of the highest paid footballers in France.
For his efforts that season, he was named the Ligue 1
Player of the Year, selected to the
Team of the Year, and awarded the Trophée du Meilleur Buteur for being the league's top scorer.
He was also shortlisted by the French magazine
France Football for the
2008 Ballon d'Or award,
by
Cristiano Ronaldo.
2008–09 season
Benzema got off to a good start for the
2008–09 season scoring twice in Lyon's opening league match against
Toulouse.
[35] The following three weeks, he scored goals against
Rhône-Alpes rivals
Grenoble[36] and Saint-Étienne
[37] and scored a goal against
OGC Nice, converting a
penalty in the dying seconds.
[38] Lyon won all three matches. As a result of his early goals, Olympique Lyonnais president Jean-Michel Aulas quelled the many transfer rumors surrounding Benzema by placing a €100 million price tag on the striker. He was also nominated alongside
Franck Ribéry to be featured on the
French cover of the video game
FIFA 09
He scored his seventh goal of the league on 29 October, scoring in the 2–0 win over
Sochaux. Benzema scored again the following weekend in a 2–0 win over
Le Mans.
He was among the top scorers in the
UEFA Champions League group stage, scoring five goals,
a double against
Steaua Bucureşti,
two goals in two matches against
Fiorentina,
and a goal against the eventual group winners
Bayern Munich on the final match day.
Following the
winter break, Benzema endured a rough patch going scoreless the first three games before recording his 11th goal of the season against Nice in a 3–1 victory.
Two weeks later, he scored his 12th goal against
Nancy in a 2–0 victory.
The next nine matches, both Benzema and Lyon's form dwindled losing four matches, drawing three, and winning only two with Benzema scoring only two goals in that stretch, both of them against Le Mans in a 3–1 victory.
The bad form resulted in Lyon losing their grip on first place position and eventually falling out of the title race, thus ending their streak of seven consecutive Ligue 1 titles.
Benzema was a part of four of those title runs.
Despite losing the title, Benzema got back on track scoring his 15th and 16th goals of the season on 17 May in a 3–1 away victory over rivals
Marseille, the first goal being a penalty.
He scored his 17th goal the following weekend against
Caen in a 3–1 victory moving him into third place among Ligue 1 top scorers.
Real Madrid
On 1 July 2009, it was announced that Lyon had reached an agreement with
Spanish club
Real Madrid for the transfer of Benzema. The transfer fee was priced at
€35 million with the fee rising to as much as €41 million based on incentives.
On 9 July, Benzema successfully passed his medical and signed his contract, a six-year deal, later that afternoon.
He was presented officially as a Real Madrid player later that night at the
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, similarly to the previous signings of
Kaká and
Cristiano Ronaldo.
Benzema made his Real Madrid debut on 20 July in the club's opening
pre-season friendly against
Irish club
Shamrock Rovers in
Dublin, appearing as a halftime substitute.
He scored the lone goal in the club's 1–0 win, scoring in the 87th minute.
On 24 August, Benzema netted two goals in Real Madrid's 4–0 victory over
Norwegian club
Rosenborg in an annual friendly tournament organized for the
Santiago Bernabeu Trophy.
The goals brought his total tally in the preseason with Real Madrid to five, making him the joint top scorer alongside fellow striker
Raúl.
He made his
La Liga debut on 29 August against
Deportivo La Coruña.
Benzema scored his first official goal for Madrid on 20 September 2009 at home against newly promoted side
Xerez in a 5–0 victory.
Six days later, he scored his first
brace for the club in a 3–0 home victory over
Tenerife.
On 3 November, Benzema netted his first
European goal for Madrid in a 1–1 draw against
Milan at the
San Siro.
He scored his second brace on 30 January 2010 for the club against Deportivo.
On 4 December, Benzema netted a hat-trick in a 4–0 victory against
Auxerre, the first goal being Real Madrid's 300th goal in the Champions League
His second hat–trick came on 22 December 2010 in a 8–0 thrashing in a Copa del Rey match against Levante.
On 22 February 2011, at the
Stade de Gerland the result was between
Lyon and Real Madrid a goalless draw when he entered Benzema on 62 minutes, after 40 seconds dodge three players passed the ball between the legs of goalkeeper
Hugo Lloris, his scored first goal for Real Madrid at
Stade de Gerland in history to end node as long 6 years However, Benzema did not celebrate the goal of respect for his former club. The match ended 1-1.
International career
In 2004, he was a part of the
under-17 squad that won the
2004 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship,
the nation's first ever.
In the tournament, which was played on
home soil, Benzema scored one goal against
Northern Ireland in the group stage.
Benzema later played with the under-18 team at the
2005 edition of the
UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup. He played in all four matches scoring a tournament-leading five goals helping France win the tournament. During the
2005–06 season, he played with the
under-19 team making eight appearances scoring four goals before earning a call up to the
under-21 squad who were attempting to qualify for the
2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. Benzema made only five appearances with the team scoring no goals. His final appearances with the squad was in their shocking two-legged loss to
Israel in the
qualifying playoffs to determine the participants in the
UEFA under-21 tournament.
Before representing France, Benzema was eligible for
Algeria and was called up to the squad by the
Fédération Algérienne de Football in December 2006,
but turned them down stating, "Algeria is my parents’ country and it is in my heart, but football-wise I will only play for the French national team."
On 28 March 2007, Benzema won his first
cap for
France against
Austria, scoring the only goal in a 1–0 win for France.
His next two goals came in one game against the
Faroe Islands, who France subsequently beat 6–0.
He was selected to represent France at
Euro 2008. France's Euro 2008 campaign opened with a 0–0 draw against
Romaniaand after a frustrating performance, he was substituted in the second half and played no part in their following game, a 1–4 defeat to the
Netherlands.
In the last group game, France lost 2–0 to
Italy and Benzema featured in the starting lineup.
He has now adopted the number 10 for France. He scored his first goal since adopting the jersey from the penalty spot against
Turkey on 5 June 2009 in a friendly where they won 1–0.
Benzema was left out of France's preliminary 30-man squad for the
2010 FIFA World Cup announced by manager
Raymond Domenech on 11 May 2010. Domenech cited his poor season with Real Madrid, rather than his alleged involvement in a sex scandal
Honours
Club
- Lyon
Country
- France U17
Individual
benzema wallpaper:
