Chazzy Blog Chazzynet Trending Blog
France and Real Madrid striker, Karim Benzema has shown why he doesn’t sing the Marseillaise, the country’s national anthem before games.
According to him, “If you listen carefully, La Marseillaise calls for war,” Benzema said. “I dislike that.”
He further explained that he will not make any attempt to persuade Didier Deschamps to take him to the World Cup, the Real Madrid star convincing the France coach: “If you need me, you know where I am”.
Benzema has not played for his country since October 2015 after being charged in connection with an assumed blackmail of his French teammate Mathieu Valbuena.
Deschamps admitted in August last year that his motivation in ignoring the 30-year-old was maintaining squad harmony while France has other options upfront in Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe, Olivier Giroud, Anthony Martial, and Ousmane Dembele.
Benzema, however, has been a regular at Real Madrid under Zinedine Zidane this season and, on ability alone, would almost certainly make the squad in Russia this summer.
“I am 30 years old, I have two children, I am calm here, if you need me, you know where I am,” Benzema said in an interview published on Tuesday by the Spanish edition of Vanity Fair.
Asked what he would do to convince Deschamps to call him up to the France squad, Benzema said: “Me? Now? Nothing.”
He added: “I have not talked to the coach for a long time and without saying a word, it’s very hard.”
The Valbuena case caused a media storm in France and led to the then-prime minister Manuel Valls insisting that “a great athlete must be ideal”.
“When a prime minister discusses about you, it’s not football anymore,” Benzema expressed. “I think football and politics shouldn’t mix and in my case, it’s a political case.”
