I don't understand the gushing over Benzema. He's a quality striker, but never left any form of impression that warants turning on the TV for a Real game. He was the guy standing next to Ronaldo while he won them stuff to me.
I'm sure that's slightly underrating him, but eh.
Benzema scored almost 200 goals & had multiple seasons scoring 20+ goals even as a 3rd wheel behind Cristiano and Bale. He also contributed 25 UCL-goals in 50 games during 2014-2018 when Real Madrid won UCL. The idea Benzema was "carried" by his fellow teammates is false, especially after what he's done when CR7 left. Also, Benzema is ridiculously skilled. Maybe you never paid enough attention to him?
Benzema is bsically 2009-2012 version of Wayne Rooney, except the former actually won trophys as the main man with a worse supporting cast.
Benzema has equipe de France on Twitter in his info box. Not sure if that was there before, but seems nailed on to me
As someone who follows Benzema's tweets daily, he always had that tag
The rumour was that Deschamps expected an apology from Benzema, in private. If they have talked in the last months, it's perfectly possible that the problem is fixed.
You could also argue Benzema was finally selected again is due to just how bad most of France's forwards have been since that World Cup triumph. Deschamps cannot afford to not select Benzema anymore. Here are some stats from Transfermarkt, comparing Benzema's stats to other France forwards (mainly the ones who play or have played as strikers) post-2018 World Cup.
Stats for clubs since after the 2018 FIFA World Cup
- Karim Benzema: 86 goals in 146 games (0.59 goals per game)
- Wissam Ben Yedder: 71 goals in 124 games (0.57 GPG)
- Antoine Griezmann: 55 goals in 146 games (0.38 GPG)
- Anthony Martial: 42 goals in 122 games (0.34 GPG)
- Olivier Giroud: 34 goals in 99 games (0.34 GPG)
Stats for France since after the 2018 FIFA World Cup
- Olivier Giroud: 13 goals in 26 games (0.5 GPG)
- Antoine Griezmann: 11 goals in 28 games (0.39 GPG)
- Wissam Ben Yedder: 2 goals in 11 games (0.18 GPG)
- Anthony Martial: 0 goals in 9 games (0 GPG)
Stats for club and country since after the 2018 FIFA World Cup
- Karim Benzema: 86 goals in 146 games (0.59 goals per game)
- Wissam Ben Yedder: 73 goals in 135 games (0.54 GPG)
- Antoine Griezmann: 66 goals in 176 games (0.37 GPG)
- Olivier Giroud: 47 goals in 125 games (0.38 GPG)
- Anthony Martial: 42 goals in 131 games (0.32 GPG)
As you can see from these lists, Benzema outscored
ALL of them, even though all of them played multiple games for France in the past 3 years.