Karim Benzema Retrieved 6 May

 Karim Mustafa Benzema is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for the Spanish Real Madrid and the French national team throughout the country. He is appreciated for his ability to fly, work speed, ability to play, and finish. Benzema is considered one of the outstanding strikers in world football.

Born: December 19, 1987 (33 years old), Lyon, France

Height: 1. Eighty-five million

Nationality: French

Spouse: Cora Gauthier

Salary: 8 million pounds (2021)

Brothers and sisters: Gressi Benzema, Sabri Benzema, Nafisa Benzema

Current groups: France national Football Team (#19 / Forward), Real Madrid (#nine / Go ahead)

Karim Mostafa Benzema (born 19 December 1987) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for the Spanish club Real Madrid and the French national team throughout the country. He is known for his aerial abilities, work speed, play, and completeness. Benzema is considered one of the best strikers in international football.

Born in Lyon, Benzema began his senior career with membership in Olympique Lyonnais in 2005, periodically contributing to 3 wins in Ligue 1. In 2008, he was named by the National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP). Player of the Year and in the team of the Year, as he finished his career as the league's top scorer and received his fourth title and first place in the French Cup. In 2009, Benzema moved to the position of the then football player of the French Football Association, signing a contract with Real Madrid in the amount of 35 million euros. After suffering to establish himself in his debut season, Benzema eventually achieved fame at Real Madrid and won 13 trophies, such as three La Liga titles, the King's Cup, and 4 UEFA Champions League titles, and is ranked fifth on the club's all-time top goalscorers list, as well as their best aid provider. While at Real Madrid, Benzema was also named French Player of the Year three times.

A Frenchman from all over the world, Benzema won the 2004 European Under-17 Championship and made his debut for the French national team in 2007 at the age of 19. Based on this, he earned 90 points, including 3 points, and took part in 4 major tournaments: the 2008, 2012, and 2020 UEFA European Championships, and the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He scored his first goal in a friendly match against Austria and ranks 6th among his country's all-time top scorers. Benzema turned into a controversially ignored national team player at the 2010 World Cup and has now not played for the French national team for more than 5 years after being involved in a high-profile blackmail scandal in 2015; he returned to the squad for UEFA Euro 2020.

2021-present: Vice-captain and Ancelotti's return

With the departure of Sergio Ramos to PSG, Benzema became the vice-captain of Real Madrid in the 2021-22 season, losing to Ancelotti. On August 14, Benzema scored a goal against Alaves, when Los Blancos started the league season with a 1-4 away win to take a place at the top of the table. Benzema's first-half goal turned into the first professional goal below Ancelotti in his 2nd stage. Six days later, Benzema signed an extension with Real Madrid, keeping him at the club until 2023.

Benzema scored his first hat-trick in three seasons in a 5-2 win over Celta Vigo on September 12, when Real Madrid returned to the Bernabeu for the first time in March 2020. Wearing the armband, Benzema became the main captain of Real Madrid, who made a hat-trick for the reason that Raul in 2008. A week later, Benzema and Viney Jr. could have combined twice in the last few minutes in the confrontation with Valencia at the Mestalla. First in the eighty-fifth minute, when Viney Jr. scored the equalizer from Benzema's pass, before Benzema scored the winner in the 88th minute, passing from Viney Jr. to finish off a mirror come back to earn Real Madrid their first victory at the Mestalla in four seasons. On September 22, Benzema scored a double and provided two more assists in a 6-1 victory over Mallorca at the Bernabeu. Benzema's double allowed him to become the fourth member of Real Madrid in records, who scored 2 hundred goals in La Liga, after Di Stefano, Raul, and Cristiano Ronaldo. With 15 contributions to intent (8 dreams, 7 assists) after six major La Liga matches, Benzema became the main participant in the twenty-first century to achieve this feat.

FIFA World Cup 2016 and 2018

After the French Football Federation continued to play for France with a score of 4: 0 in the confrontation with Armenia on October 8, 2015, on April 13, 2016, the French Football Federation announced that Benzema could now not be selected for the Euro 2016 match on home soil. He responded on June 1, 2016, at Marca in an interview entitled "Benzema:' Deschamps resigned due to stress caused by a racist element in France '

Benzema was additionally excluded from the list of participants of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Expressing his displeasure with FFF President Noel Le Graet, Benzema later tweeted: "Mr. Le Graet, with all due respect, you have lost the opportunity to remain silent. I discovered your true face, and this is not the only thing that stated that he likes me, and he would not talk about calling the team selection!"In November 2019, Benzema responded to Le Gre's review that his career in France was over, saying: "If you notice that I'm done, let me play with one of the different countries that I'm eligible for, and we'll see."

Return to the squad for Euro 2020

On May 18, 2021, following media speculation, Benzema was officially named in France's 26-man squad for Euro 2020, his first call-up to the national team in five years. He looked for the first time, given that his return took place on June 2, in a 3-0 home win over Wales, in a friendly warm-up before the very last tournament, during which he neglected a penalty, but later became further concerned about the last goal scored by Antoine Griezmann. On June 23, 2021, he scored a double. a 2-2 draw against Portugal, to become his first wish at the European Championship. As a result, he scored another goal in the match of the sixteenth round of the French championship against Switzerland, where France was knocked out of the tournament on penalties after a 3-3 draw.

Controversies and legal issues

On December 6, 2006, he informed RMC about his possible choice for the Algerian team: "This is my parents' country, it is in my heart. But great after the transfer, it's really that I will play in a French crew. I can usually attend the matches of the French team. Then this is an additional fee for carrying because Algeria is my United States of America, where my mother and father come from there. After that, France... It's very sporty, that's all." Benzema has attracted some criticism for these reviews, as well as for his reluctance to sing the French national anthem "La Marseillaise" before each suit with the national team.

On April 18, 2010, the French TV channel M6 announced for the first time that four persons of the French national group were being investigated in connection with their roles as clients in a network of prostitutes operating in a Paris nightclub, some of the women may have been minors. Sooner or later it turned out that the players were Franck Ribery, Sidney Govou, Hatem Ben Arfa, and Benzema. Benzema turned into an alleged sexual encounter with a prostitute when she turned 16, which Benzema denied through his lawyer. On July 20, Benzema was puzzled by the Paris police and charged with the price of "harassment of an underage prostitute". In November 2011, prosecutors demanded that the cases against Ribery and Benzema be dismissed, stating that the players did not know that the escort, diagnosed with Zahia Dehar, become a 16-year-old vintage. However, the case still went to trial. In January 2014, the court, in this case, reduced the prices against both Ribery and Benzema, stating that there was not sufficient evidence that the couple knew that the prostitutes.

On November 4, 2015, Benzema was arrested with the help of French police for his alleged participation in the blackmail of fellow France worldwide member Mathieu Valbuena over the alleged recording of a sex video on a mobile phone. During the investigation of the blackmail plot, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said: "A great athlete should be exemplary. If this is not the case, then he has no place inside the "France" group. There are so many children in our suburbs, so many children who are associated with incredible athletes. They put on a blue jersey, the colors of France, which can be so important in these moments." On December 10, 2015, FFF President Noel Le Grae imposed a temporary suspension of the striker from the French group until a new improvement in this case. On February 17, 2016, the judicial assessment turned into a cancellation as a result of the investigation, which allowed Karim Benzema to contact Mathieu Valbuena again. On July 11, 2017, the Court of Cassation issued a decision in which it invalidated the decision of the Versailles Court of Appeal, which established the procedure according to which Benzema was accused of complicity in an attempt to blackmail. This choice was made based on the premise of challenging the legality of recording phone calls using the police, and the court decision did not refute the authenticity of the attempt to blackmail Valbuena by Benzema. On January 7, 2021, the Prosecutor General's Office in Versailles announced that Benzema would be put on trial for his alleged involvement in blackmail.