Durban — There is no doubt that Karim Benzema deserved the Ballon d’Or following a stellar 2021/22 season during which he helped an otherwise not out of the ordinary Real Madrid side win the Champions League and La Liga double.
The Frenchman had the best season of his career at the age of 34, scoring 44 goals across 46 games in all competitions, with 15 of his goals coming in the Champions League. It was also the veteran who struck a hat-trick against PSG in the round of 16 to lead his side to victory against the French giants.
He then went on to score three out of Madrid’s six goals against Manchester City in the semi-final of Europe’s premier club competition as Los Blancos downed Pep Guardiola’s side 6-5 on aggregate.
By winning the Ballon d’Or, Benzema has become the oldest person to win the award since the inaugural award was given to Stanley Matthews in 1956 at the age of 41. He has become the first French player to win the award in 24 years, with Zinedine Zidane the last to do so in 1998. He has also become the fifth Frenchman overall to win the award, following in the footsteps of the likes of Michel Platini, Jean-Pierre Papin and Raymond Kopa.
While he does not have the cleanest of reputations due to his fair share of off-field controversies, an interesting fact about Benzema is that he has also never received a red card in his professional career and just 16 yellow cards since 2004.
This suggests that he is a class act not only when it comes to attacking play but also when it comes to maintaining composure on the field of play.
Benzema’s next mission will be to try help France defend the 2018 World Cup crown in Qatar next month. Currently, none of the European forces look to be at their best and it is Brazil and Argentina who will enter the tournament in the Middle East as the favourites. However, Benzema guided an otherwise unremarkable Madrid team to Champions League and La Liga glory last season. If there is one player who can guide France to a third World Cup crown, it is him.
IOL Sport