Rumors surrounding Karim Benzema’s career with the French national team were answered at the end of December 2022. Coinciding with his 35th birthday on 19/12/2022, Benzema made a big decision. If birthdays are usually celebrated with parties and joy, this is not the case for Benzema. He chose to make that day the right moment to carry out one of the most serious plans in his life. Yes, right on that date, Benzema decided to leave the French national team.

Benzema is one of the most successful strikers ever. Recently, the star has not looked as good as usual. Injury after injury that he experienced made his shrewdness on the gridiron drop dramatically. Apart from that, the age factor is also suspected to be the reason for Benzema to make up his mind to end his career at Le Blues. Benzema has strengthened the French national team since 2007. Throughout his career, he has presented 37 goals.

In a post on his social media page on the day of his retirement, Benzema posted a picture of himself wearing a France jersey. In his photo caption, he expressed an extraordinary sense of pride for what he had gone through with the French squad. For him, this was the perfect time to say goodbye.

“Efforts have been made. Mistakes and opportunities have brought me to where I am today. I am very proud. I have written my own record and it is time for us to part.” Benzema announced.

Goodbye Benzema style

To mark that moment, Benzema did not just greet his fans. Still via his Instagram account, Benzema did not forget to say goodbye to his teammates. However, the farewell to Benzema was not revealed in the form of a special post or something memorable. It seems that Benzema has his own way of saying goodbye to the French players.

Benzema’s farewell was anything but friendly. Instead of thanking his compatriots, Benzema opted to unfollow most of the French players. This could be a firm statement from Benzema who does not want any attachment to his former team-mate.

Until now, Karim Benzema has not given an answer regarding his reasons for stopping following the French player. Perhaps the ones who unfollowed Benzema were players he wasn’t particularly close to personally. Despite carrying out massive unfollowing actions, a number of players are still being monitored by their social media networks. French players who are still on Benzema’s friend list include Kylian Mbappe, Eduardo Camavinga, Raphael Varane, Aurelien Tchouameni and Marcus Thuram.

Deschamps is with Karim Benzema

Bad Relations with Partners
Leaving the French national team seems to be the best move for Benzema. If he stays longer in the France squad, he will feel the discomfort himself. Benzema’s relationship with a number of French stars is reportedly not harmonious. Not only with fellow players, the relationship between Benzema and Didier Deschamps is also not very good.

In the L’Equipe report, a number of players said they were very happy with Benzema’s departure. Likewise with the coach. However, Benzema had disrupted the French defense when competing in the 2022 World Cup. The injury suffered by Benzema made him have to leave immediately after 2 days of landing in Qatar. Until the World Cup was over, Benzema did not return to follow Mbappe and friends. This condition allegedly made Deschamps dislike Benzema even more. Still according to L’Equipe, Karim Benzema actually still really wants to strengthen the French national team after recovering from injury. But that desire did not get a good reception from the coach. And now, Benzema’s journey with Le Blues is officially over.