‘I don’t really want to answer that question’: Deschamps dismisses question Benzema’s return for final
Benzema left Qatar after sustaining the soft-tissue injury, however, the centre-forward has made a swift recovery, featuring in Real Madrid’s 1-1 friendly against Leganes earlier this week.
During the press conference after their semi-final win over Morocco, the France manager Didier Deschamps did not offer a clear-cut response on whether Karim Benzema could make a sensational return for the World Cup final against Argentina.
Deschamps have not replaced Benzema in his 26-man squad. When asked if Benzema could return for France for the World Cup final, Deschamps dismissed the question.
“I don’t really want to answer that question,” he said.
“Next question. I do apologise.”
On the other hand, Benzema posted a cryptic Instagram post, where he has dismissed any claims that he may return to action for France. Benzema wrote: “I’m not interested.”
One month after raising the Ballon d’Or in triumph to crown his remarkable rise, Karim Benzema’s dream of winning the World Cup was over after tearing a muscle in his left thigh
It is a crushing blow for Benzema, only the fifth Frenchman to win the Ballon d’Or award and the first since Zinedine Zidane, his idol, in 1998.
The hugely talented Benzema, who is of Algerian descent, came through Lyon’s renowned youth academy and scored the first of his Champions League goals as an audaciously gifted 17-year-old. He’s now fourth all-time with 86 goals.
Benzema was France’s top scorer at the 2014 World Cup but did not play in France’s victorious 2018 World Cup campaign because he was still exiled from the team for his alleged role in a sex-tape scandal with then-France teammate Mathieu Valbuena.Subscriber Only StoriesPremiumPremiumPremiumPremium
The fallout from that scandal led to a dramatic fall from grace for Benzema. He faced a nationwide deluge of vitriol and scathing criticism, including on the political level. It led to a long exclusion from the national team from Oct. 2015 until his recall Deschamps in May last year.
