The inside of the French team is unstable because of Benzema
After Benzema's announcement, Romain Molina - an investigative journalist specializing in reporting on French football - revealed hidden corners in the French dressing room, with a video on the Youtube channel.
According to Molina, the striker was excluded from the squad for the 2022 World Cup because of the decision of coach Didier Deschamps. Benzema was on the list of 26 players for the 2022 World Cup and went to Qatar with the French team. But on November 19 - just three days before the match, he was determined to have a quadriceps muscle injury on his left leg and had to leave the team, returning to Madrid for treatment. Deschamps believes that keeping a big star like Benzema without knowing when he will return to the game could cause France to be targeted in a negative way by the media. Therefore, the 54-year-old coach decided to let Benzema leave the team, but did not call a replacement to show respect.
Also according to Molina, Antoine Griezmann and Hugo Lloris were "satisfied" when Benzema did not attend the 2022 World Cup due to injury. The duo also did not accept Benzema's return to the France team from Euro 2021, because they did not want their positions to be affected. Lloris has captained France since 2012, and has made 145 appearances for France, three more than Lilian Thuram's previous record. Meanwhile, Griezmann is sure to start in France despite the decline at the club level, and has played 73 consecutive matches for the team.
Molina's information also almost coincides with the judgment of French newspaper L'Équipe from before the 2022 World Cup kicks off in Qatar. Accordingly, the withdrawal of Benzema helps the atmosphere around the team to be lighter in terms of expertise. The new owner of the Golden Ball is said to be able to hinder Kylian Mbappe's ability to shine - who wants to be the central character. Similarly, it is difficult for Griezmann to make the same impact as in the 2018 World Cup if Benzema is present.
Benzema first joined the French team in 2007. But because of the scandal of using sex clips to blackmail teammate Mathieu Valbuena in 2015, he was banned from recruiting for nearly 6 years. In May 2021, Benzema was called back by Deschamps. Since then, he has played 16 more matches, scored 10 goals, with France in the quarter-finals of Euro 2021 and won the Nations League in the same year. One day after the World Cup 2022 - the tournament he did not attend despite his registered name - closed the curtain, Benzema announced his farewell to the French team.
Romain Molina, born in 1991, is a French investigative journalist, contributing to many major newspapers such as: New York Times, The Guardian, BBC, MSN Canada, The Guardian, The Telegraph, Yahoo Sport UK or Irish Times. Molina has exposed many scandals of French football, such as Leonardo being a "black power", causing Carlo Ancelotti or Thomas Tuchel to lose their jobs when they were still PSG's Sports Director, or the fact that more than 400 French players are playing in the country. Or in England, he was sexually abused many times when he was in the youth team.
