World Cup – Karim Benzema: “We must not hide, we have so much talent”

“Hurry for it to start“, Karim Benzema is also serene. Despite the packages of Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kanté, which weaken his midfield, the selection of Didier Deschamps advances in his eyes as the favorite of the World Cup, in the same way as Brazil, the Argentina and Spain. He understands that the French fans are waiting for nothing more than a second title in a row (the first, for him): “All the French think the same thing: on paper, we are the best. We must not hide, we have so much talent in this team.”

Benzema adds, with caution and vigorous realism: “Football is always the same. It’s eleven against eleven on a football field. We will have to take our adversaries (Australia, Denmark, Tunisia, editor’s note) with ambition, respect them and do everything to win our three matches. ” His credo: above all not to play small arm, to see himself as the team to beat without falling into excess of confidence: “On the pitch, we have to show that we are the favorites and that we want to win.” Not so simple… especially with, as a bonus, the pressure inherent in the “Ballon d’Or” label?

“I didn’t want to stop playing football before winning the Ballon d’Or“, says the 34-year-old centre-forward, about a kind of consecration, in itself, which he decorrelates from the sequel. “I don’t say to myself: ‘I’m going to participate in the World Cup, I have to win it, because I’m not playing alone’“, he sweeps thus, concerning the opportunity to win in such a short period of time the greatest individual distinction and its collective counterpart. “The closer we will get (of the trophy), the more we will say to ourselves: ‘We must win’“, slips Benzema all the same in conclusion.