Karim Benzema (1 Viewer)

Byrone

Peen Meister
Dec 19, 2005
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#1


Full name: Karim Benzema
Date of birth: 19 December 1987 (23)
Place of birth: Lyon, France
Height: 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position: Striker​

Karim Benzema (born 19 December 1987) is a French international footballer who currently plays for Real Madrid in the Spanish La Liga. He primarily plays as a striker whose influence can extend out to the wings and is known for his technical ability, powerful style of play, and vast goal-scoring ability.[1] He is described as an "immensely-talented striker" who is "strong and powerful" and "a potent finisher from inside the box".[2]

Benzema was born in the city of Lyon beginning his football career with local club Bron Terraillon. In 1996, he joined the biggest club in the city Olympique Lyonnais and, subsequently, came through the club's youth academy. Benzema made his professional debut in the 2004–05 season and appeared sporadically in his first three seasons as Lyon won three titles in that span. In the 2007–08 season, Benzema became a starter and had a breakthrough year scoring over 30 goals as Lyon won its seventh straight league title. For his performances, he was named the National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) Ligue 1 Player of the Year and named to the organization's Team of the Year. Benzema was also the league's top scorer and given the Bravo Award by Italian magazine Guerin Sportivo. After another season at Lyon, in July 2009, Benzema signed a six-year contract with Spanish outfit Real Madrid. After struggling to establish himself in his debut season with the club, in the 2010–11 season, Benzema reached prominence scoring over 25 goals en-route to helping Real Madrid win the Copa del Rey.

Benzema is a former French youth international and has represented his nation from under-17 level onwards. Prior to playing for the senior team, he played on the under-17 team that won the 2004 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship. Benzema made his senior international debut in March 2007 in a friendly match against Austria. On his debut, he scored his first international goal in a 1–0 win. Benzema has represented France at one major international tournament; UEFA Euro 2008. He made two appearances in the competition against Romania and Italy in the group stage.


Lyon

Early career

Abouse3da is a graduate of the Lyon academy. Before joining Lyon, he trained at local Rhône-Alpes club Bron Terraillon SC in the commune Bron, a suburb of Lyon. His performances with Bron's youth team caught the attention of Lyon scouts and he joined the academy in 1996 at the age of 9.[15] Benzema quickly ascended up the ranks scoring 38 goals in one season with Lyon's under-16 team[16] and scoring 12 goals in 14 matches with the under-18 team before earning a call up to the senior squad by manager Paul Le Guen.

He made his league debut for Lyon on 15 January 2005 during the 2004–05 season in a match against FC Metz, coming on as a substitute in the 77th minute. Lyon won the match 2–0 with Benzema providing the assist on the second goal scored by Bryan Bergougnoux.[17] Five days later, he signed his first professional contract, agreeing to a three-year deal.[18] Over the next two seasons, his play was limited making a total of 34 appearances and scoring six goals, including his first ever against AC Ajaccio in a 3–1 win,[19] as well as his first UEFA Champions League goal against Norwegian club Rosenborg BK in a 2–1 victory.


Breakthrough season


For the 2007–08 season, with the likes of Florent Malouda, John Carew, and Sylvain Wiltord all departing from the club, Benzema, despite being 19 at the time, switched to the number 10 shirt and was inserted into the lead striker role. After forming a special relationship with new manager Alain Perrin, he responded with 31 goals in 51 games. He topped the league with 20 goals, scored four goals in the UEFA Champions League, one in the Coupe de la Ligue, and totaled six goals in six Coupe de France matches, helping Lyon win their first ever double.[21] Some of his more dazzling performances that season included a hat trick against Metz on 15 September,[22] an equalizing goal in the 90th minute from a free kick against Derby du Rhône rivals Saint-Étienne,[23] and a goal against RC Lens that was nominated for goal of the season by fans.[24]

In the Champions League, Benzema scored an important double against Rangers at Ibrox Park on the last match day of the group stage. The 3–0 victory assured Lyon progression to the knockout rounds.[25] In the knockout rounds, Lyon faced Manchester United and Benzema continued to score, this time it was from outside the penalty box in the first leg match which ended in a 1–1 draw[26] and United eventually won the tie 1–2 on aggregate. Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and players praised Benzema for his performance.[27] Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas later accused Ferguson of tapping-up Benzema.[28][29]

"It's a compliment to be compared to Zinedine Zidane, but we are different players."
Karim Benzema, after being compared to Zinedine Zidane.[30]

On 13 March 2008, Benzema extended his contract with Lyon until 2013 with a one year extension option.[31] After signing his new contract, Benzema became one of the highest paid footballers in France.[32] For his efforts that season, he was named the Ligue 1 Player of the Year, selected to the Team of the Year, and awarded the Trophée du Meilleur Buteur for being the league's top scorer.[33][34] He was also shortlisted by the French magazine France Football for the 2008 Ballon d'Or award,[35] won by Cristiano Ronaldo.


2008–09 season

Benzema got off to a good start for the 2008–09 season scoring twice in Lyon's opening league match against Toulouse.[36] The following three weeks, he scored goals against Rhône-Alpes rivals Grenoble[37] and Saint-Étienne[38] and scored a goal against OGC Nice, converting a penalty in the dying seconds.[39] Lyon won all three matches. As a result of his early goals, Olympique Lyonnais president Jean-Michel Aulas quelled the many transfer rumors surrounding Benzema by placing a €100 million price tag on the striker. He was also nominated alongside Franck Ribéry to be featured on the French cover of the video game FIFA 09.[40]


He scored his seventh goal of the league on 29 October, scoring in the 2–0 win over Sochaux. Benzema scored again the following weekend in a 2–0 win over Le Mans.[41] He was among the top scorers in the UEFA Champions League group stage, scoring five goals,[42] a double against Steaua Bucureşti,[43] two goals in two matches against Fiorentina,[44][45] and a goal against the eventual group winners Bayern Munich on the final match day.[46]

Following the winter break, Benzema endured a rough patch going scoreless the first three games before recording his 11th goal of the season against Nice in a 3–1 victory.[47] Two weeks later, he scored his 12th goal against Nancy in a 2–0 victory.[48] The next nine matches, both Benzema and Lyon's form dwindled losing four matches, drawing three, and winning only two with Benzema scoring only two goals in that stretch, both of them against Le Mans in a 3–1 victory.[49] The bad form resulted in Lyon losing their grip on first place position and eventually falling out of the title race, thus ending their streak of seven consecutive Ligue 1 titles.[50] Benzema was a part of four of those title runs.

Despite losing the title, Benzema got back on track scoring his 15th and 16th goals of the season on 17 May in a 3–1 away victory over rivals Marseille, the first goal being a penalty.[51] He scored his 17th goal the following weekend against Caen in a 3–1 victory moving him into third place among Ligue 1 top scorers.[52]

Real Madrid

2009–10 season


On 1 July 2009, it was announced that Lyon had reached an agreement with Spanish club Real Madrid for the transfer of Benzema. The transfer fee was priced at €35 million with the fee rising to as much as €41 million based on incentives.[53] On 9 July, Benzema successfully passed his medical and signed his contract, a six-year deal, later that afternoon.[54] He was presented officially as a Real Madrid player later that night at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, similarly to the previous signings of Kaká and Cristiano Ronaldo.[55] Benzema made his Real Madrid debut on 20 July in the club's opening pre-season friendly against Irish club Shamrock Rovers in Dublin, appearing as a halftime substitute.[56] He scored the lone goal in the club's 1–0 win, scoring in the 87th minute.[57] On 24 August, Benzema netted two goals in Real Madrid's 4–0 victory over Norwegian club Rosenborg in an annual friendly tournament organized for the Santiago Bernabeu Trophy.[58] The goals brought his total tally in the preseason with Real Madrid to five, making him the joint top scorer alongside fellow striker Raúl.[59]

He made his La Liga debut on 29 August against Deportivo La Coruña.[60] Benzema scored his first official goal for Madrid on 20 September 2009 at home against newly promoted side Xerez in a 5–0 victory.[61] Six days later, he scored his first brace for the club in a 3–0 home victory over Tenerife.[62] On 3 November, Benzema made his first European goal for Madrid in a 1–1 draw against Milan at the San Siro.[63] He scored his second brace on 30 January 2010 for the club against Deportivo.[64]


2010–11 season

The new season started slowly for Benzema, he was mainly used as a substitute early on the season, but due to a serious injury to Gonzalo Higuaín and the team's lack of senior strikers, Benzema was given more starts by José Mourinho. On 4 December, Benzema netted a hat-trick in a 4–0 victory against Auxerre, the first goal being Real Madrid's 300th goal in the Champions League era.[65] His second hat-trick came on 22 December 2010 in a 8–0 thrashing in a Copa del Rey match against Levante.[66]

On 22 February 2011, Benzema opened the scoring in the 1–1 draw against his former club Lyon at Stade de Gerland.[67] The France striker scored just after 40 seconds coming on as a substitute on the 62nd minute in which he dodged three players and placed the ball between the legs of Lyon goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. The goal was the 100th goal of his professional senior career, and also the first goal for Real Madrid at Stade de Gerland in 6 years. Nevertheless he did not celebrate the goal out of respect for his former club. He then continued his fine form by scoring twice in the 7–0 win against Malaga, he added another brace (two goals) against Racing Santander in a 1–3 away win on 6 March 2011. Six days later, he scored another two against Hércules helping Madrid to a 2–0 victory, making it his third consecutive brace for his club. He also scored the opener in the 1–2 away win at Vicente Calderón Stadium in the Madrid derby match against Atlético Madrid on 19 March 2011, which took his tally to 10 goals in his last 8 games.[68] After missing several weeks through injury, he returned to score a goal on 23 April in a 3–6 win against Valencia. In Real Madrid's last game of 2010–11 season against Almería, he scored two goals in an 8–1 home win[69] which summarize his season with 26 goals in 31 starts and 17 substitute appearances.

2011–12 season

Benzema was impressive in the preseason matches, scoring 8 goals in 7 games.[70] He opened his tally on the new league season with a brace against Getafe on September 10.[71]He then scored against dutch club AFC Ajax in Real Madrid's 3-0 Champions League win.
 

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Byrone

Byrone

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Dec 19, 2005
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  • Thread Starter
  • Thread Starter #3
    I've always wanted him here. Too bad Marotta couldn't pounce on his miserable form last season. He would have made a world of difference to our attack.
     

    Elvin

    Senior Member
    Nov 25, 2005
    36,809
    #5
    I don't know if it's just me, but he has that slow and lazy aura about him. But at the same time there's that bad-assness aura of Zidane.
     

    Dostoevsky

    Tzu
    Administrator
    May 27, 2007
    88,428
    #6
    I don't know if it's just me, but he has that slow and lazy aura about him. But at the same time there's that bad-assness aura of Zidane.
    Really? I see that aura at many players, like Berbatov or Vucinic but I think he's Benzema far from that. He looks like a fighter to me most of the time.
     
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    Byrone

    Byrone

    Peen Meister
    Dec 19, 2005
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  • Thread Starter #8
    This guy is on fire and I'm glad. It's funny how many people wrote him off while he's a beast.
    Word. It was kinda funny listening to the weird arguments & some members saying he would never regain his form.

    I don't know if it's just me, but he has that slow and lazy aura about him. But at the same time there's that bad-assness aura of Zidane.
    It's just you.
     
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    Byrone

    Byrone

    Peen Meister
    Dec 19, 2005
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  • Thread Starter #10
    Really? I see that aura at many players, like Berbatov or Vucinic but I think he's Benzema far from that. He looks like a fighter to me most of the time.
    :tup:

    I can only imagine Real's attack next season.

    Benzema, Higuian, Neymar & Dzeko/Aguero.:D That's pretty potent.
     

    Marc

    Softcore Juventino
    Jul 14, 2006
    21,649
    #18
    Great player. One of my favourite non Juve players. But Byrone, why did you say he had a miserable last season? 26 goals in 48 apps is pretty impressive.
     

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