A dream of Gone. At 18, Karim Benzema was the new attraction of Olympique Lyonnais. And already at the time, the attacker set no limits. Not even that of one day winning the mythical Ballon d’Or. “This trophy, I dream of it”he confided in 2006 to the Sunday newspaper. To be one day on top of the world, the native of Lyon has coaled. A real revelation at OL, where he was hatched by Gérard Houllier before exploding, the one nicknamed “Coco” rose through the ranks one after the other. Crowned French champion four times with OL, he left the nest in 2009. Direction Madrid.
Convinced by Florentino Pérez, who did not hesitate to wet the jersey by going to his home in Bron Terraillon, Karim Benzema experienced ups and downs in his debut in the Iberian capital. But the native of Lyon never let go, he who saw the attackers parade at Real Madrid without being really worried. Faithful lieutenant of Cristiano Ronaldo, from whom he stole his rigor and his requirement in the management of his body, KB9 took power at the Merengues when the Portuguese left. A true goal-scoring machine, the centre-forward was at the top of his game in 2021-22.
A golden season
He has scored 44 goals and delivered 14 assists in 46 games in all competitions. In detail, he scored 27 times (12 assists) in 32 appearances in La Liga. To this, we must add that he scored 15 goals (2 assists) in 12 Champions League matches. Finally, he scored 2 goals in 2 Spanish Super Cup matches. This is the most prolific season of his career. The tricolor international, who returned to the selection in 2021 after five years of absence, was the key man in Madrid’s fine season.
A year 2022 where the Merengues won the Spanish Super Cup, La Liga or even the Champions League. A competition where KB9 was monstrous, he who scored valuable goals, especially against PSG (a hat-trick in the round of 16 second leg), Chelsea (4 goals in 2 matches) or Manchester City (3 goals in the 2 meetings). For all these reasons, Karim Benzema was the big favorite for the Ballon d’Or ceremony. A 2022 edition where the winner was elected for his entire 2021-22 season and no longer for his performances over the calendar year. Karim Benzema was therefore crowned on Monday.
KB9 on top of the world
At 34, the striker is therefore realizing his dream, he who received his trophy at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. And as a symbol, it was Zinedine Zidane, the last French player to have been awarded in 1998, who presented him with this 66th Ballon d’Or. A beautiful image since the two men, who advanced hand in hand in Madrid, consider themselves brothers according to the Nueve. Karim Benzema, who has been named 11 times in the list of candidates since 2008, is the fifth Frenchman to win this title after Raymond Kopa (1958), Michel Platini (1983, 1984 and 1985), Jean-Pierre Papin (1991) and Zinedine Zidane (1998).
Well ahead of the votes, Karim Benzema is ahead of Sadio Mané (Liverpool / Bayern Munich, Senegal), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City, Belgium) and Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich / FC Barcelona, Poland). All end up behind the tricolor international, who will be all the more expected at the World Cup in Qatar as well as in Madrid. Crowned with the Ballon d’Or title, Gone Benzema has become great!
