Karim Benzema’s exclusion from the World Cup was the latest devastating blow to France’s World Cup dreams, but coach Didier Deschamps insisted that the show must go on for his country.
The Real Madrid’s Ballon d’Or winner will not participate in the Qatar 2022 finals due to pain in his left quadriceps, specifically a femoral rectus injury.
Benzema was expected to play a significant role in the trophy defence this time after missing Les Bleus’ victory at Russia 2018 due to being out of favour due to an ongoing blackmail probe.
The training session on Saturday was his first full on-pitch activity with the France team of this camp, and he was trying to demonstrate his fitness following recent injury struggles with Madrid.
But the 34-year-old was unable to escape unharmed, withdrawing after experiencing pain. He had previously experienced left quadriceps muscle fatigue, and this could be a repeat of that issue.
According to the French Football Federation, Benzema had an MRI at a hospital in Doha and would need three weeks to recover. He has been dropped from the France team, and Deschamps is free to bring in a replacement.
“I’m extremely sorry for Karim who had made this World Cup a major objective”, Deschamps said.
Karim @Benzema has pulled out of the World Cup with a thigh injury.
The whole team shares Karim's disappointment and wishes him a speedy recovery💙#FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/fclx9pFkGz
— French Team ⭐⭐ (@FrenchTeam) November 19, 2022
The World champions, France will face Tunisia, Denmark, and Australia in Group D, before starting their defence against Australia on Tuesday.
Deschamps has excellent forward alternatives in Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, and Olivier Giroud, but losing Benzema is still a big loss. In addition, this week saw the loss for France of RB Leipzig’s productive Christopher Nkunku due to knee ligament damage sustained during training.
They must be wondering what the upcoming weeks have in store for them because they are also without their star midfielders Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante due to injuries.
“Despite this new blow, I have every confidence in my squad. We are going to do everything to meet the immense challenge that awaits us”, said Deschamps who is determined to strike a positive note.
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