The France team did not make its comeback with a disappointing draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina (1-1) at the Meinau stadium (Strasbourg) on Wednesday evening.
A sluggish performance which is in line with the elimination of the Blues in the round of 16 of the Euro this summer against Switzerland and which confirms that the world champions and their coach are in a delicate situation.
Despite the doubts surrounding Didier Deschamps' tactical choices, especially in the offensive sector, Karim Benzema was keen to provide unfailing support to the coach. In an interview with RTL, the Real Madrid striker, little to his advantage in Alsace, admits not understanding the skepticism surrounding certain choices of the boss of the Blues:
“Nothing has changed. How can we doubt a coach like Didier Deschamps? I think he has shown in the past that he is a great coach and he will dismantle him again in the future. ”
Support which proves that the 98 world champion and the former Lyonnais are now fully reconciled.
Benzema had been sidelined from the France team for more than five years and despite brilliant performances with Real Madrid by Deschamps, a consequence of his alleged involvement in the Mathieu Valbuena sextape affair in 2015. Then , last June, the striker was recalled in selection for the Euro.
In 2016, the controversy over Benzema's comments on Deschamps
Karim Benzema had not lived well this eviction of the Blues, according to him, not justified. In an interview granted in 2016 to the daily
Marca
, the Madrid striker had affirmed that Deschamps
had "yielded to the pressure of a racist part of France
"
before specifying not to know if it was a "
decision of him alone
”, because he had“
always
got
on well with him and with the president (of the French Football Federation, Noël Le Graët.)
”
This accusation had deeply marked Didier Deschamps, also targeted by Eric Cantona who had declared in the British press that the coach had not called Ben Arfa or Benzema because of their origins. Two days after Benzema's statements, the Deschamps family house in Concarneau (Brittany) had been tagged with a message calling him "
racist
" without obviously being able to establish a direct link with the words of number 9 in Madrid.
But this chain of events had upset the successor of Laurent Blanc. “
I can never forget. We cross the white line, these are consequences of other things
", regretted the former midfielder before continuing on BFM TV:"
It is violent and inevitably, it is unacceptable. Moved, that is not the word. The right word is unacceptable.
"