It was 8:22 p.m. this Tuesday when Didier Deschamps announced live on TF1 and M 6 his list for Euro 2021 and the recall to the French team of Karim Benzema, an indiscretion revealed exclusively in the morning by Le Parisien.
Five and a half years after his 81st selection, the Madrid striker returns to the France team to compete in the European Championship (June 11 - July 11).
For the Blues, reigning world champions, everything will start on June 15 with Germany as opponents in Munich then Hungary and Portugal in Budapest to close this first round.
They are the favorites of the competition, ahead of Belgium and a few other nations like the Portugal of Cristiano Ronaldo, reigning European champion.
Read also France team: what changes the return of Benzema for Giroud
With Benzema, Didier Deschamps' men could not be less strong. The Madrilenian is one of the greatest strikers in the history of French football, the best according to tastes and affinities (some will prefer Jean-Pierre Papin or Thierry Henry), in any case in the pantheon of the game with his club Real Madrid, of which he has become one of the legends since 2009. He never gives up and gets better all the time. At the age of 33, he reached a form of climax, by chaining goals, absolute accuracy on the pitch, combined with his long-standing elegance and efficiency that never escaped his intimate setting.