Against Germany, this Tuesday for the first match of the Euro (9 p.m., M 6) of the Blues, Karim Benzema (33) will play his first match in a major international competition under the tricolor jersey for nearly seven years.
The last time, it was already against the Mannschaft (0-1), July 4, 2014, and the Madrid striker had closed his World Cup with three goals to his name (including 1 penalty).
But the Benzema of 2014 in Brazil has nothing to do with that of 2021. Sharper, more solar, more fulfilled in his game, the Lyonnais has changed a number of parameters.
We explain to you.
A true athlete
.
In Clairefontaine, Karim Benzema's teammates as well as members of the staff have seen it.
Far from the player with the silhouette not always sharp of his first years at Real Madrid, the number 19 tricolor now has a lean and drawn body.
The result of a radical change in his physical preparation for several years.
Very concerned about his hygiene of life, he has set up a ritual to ensure his longevity at the highest level.
Every afternoon, in a gym set up at his home and worthy of a professional gymnasium, he engages in a long personal bodybuilding session.
The French have equipped themselves with high-end machines to work on their muscles, their power, their endurance, their land, etc.
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Next to its gym, there is a hammam, a sauna, and a room which has a hot bath and a cold bath, to better promote its recovery.
Another recipe for his transformation: his change in eating habits.
For several years, he has had the services of a home cook, Alberto Mastromatteo, who prepares him dishes without any fat.
He is very fond of oriental cuisine, especially vegetables and steamed fish, and has long followed a diet based on microalgae.
Plant-based proteins that are seven times greater than a tenderloin of beef.
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A boss scorer.
Since 2018, and the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus Turin, Karim Benzema has further expanded his palette.
“Until then, he had always had this role of attacker who created false leads for another scorer, advance Armand Garrido, his trainer in U16 in Lyon, who still follows his career closely.
But for the past three years, Karim has established himself in leadership.
With the confidence of the coach, he took responsibility.
He has something more.
"
More boss therefore of his team, but also more goalscorer.
The native of Lyon has just concluded two of his last three seasons with 30 goals (2018/2019 and 2020/2021), a score he had not reached in the Madrid jersey since his 32 goals in fiscal 2011. / 2012.
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"Like all great attackers, he always has the ability to forget about defenders to appear at the right time," says his ex-trainer. Then he has this technical quality in the sequences which will make the difference. And then there is always this eccentric game that he likes and which allows him to enter. It's not really a 9 or a 10, he walks in between, so he's going to come and get the balls and in addition, he has reinforced his adaptability whatever the tactical patterns. "
Observers had a sample of this expanded palette and this ability to adapt during his match and a half in Blue. Without offensive success. But for Armand Garrido, that's not all. “I think he's made a lot of progress on defensive work, he's producing more effort. “The tricolor circles will not complain about it.
A more secure man.
Karim Benzema is not a big talker, and it is especially his talent that speaks for him.
But the Madrid center forward bowed with good grace to the exercise of the press conference recently at Clairefontaine.
An obligatory passage of twenty minutes where he showed a pleasant face, with a few smiles, and a unifying posture far from the divisive image that is too often attributed to him.
“Benz” even gave his first interview, post-return to Blue, to L'Equipe, the sports daily with which he has sometimes had troubled relations in the past.
As if he wanted to demonstrate that the tensions before his sidelining were no longer current neither with the media, nor with the coach and even less with France.
VIDEO.
French team: "Merci Didier" from Karim Benzema at a press conference
The RN may want to lock him in this image of a bad patriot who would prefer Algeria (the native country of his parents) to France, leaves him his treacherous debates at the door of the selection. No more controversial statements about Deschamps who would have "yielded to pressure from a racist part of France". Today, Benzema thanks DD for his selection when invited. While he has reached a sort of sporting fullness with his club, the striker seems more appeased, more sure of his strength, more solar in a way. In his speech, as in the field, he puts himself at the service of the collective. He did it before, but maybe it was less audible. Or did we want to hear it less.