Karim Benzema

Karim Benzema was born in 1987 in Lyon, France. He is a central forward of the France national team and Real Madrid.

Karim was born in the family of a poor Algerian emigrant. His family had 9 children and all of them lived in a small house which was situated in the centre of a district not well off. They pursued quite a modest lifestyle and Karim began to attend football classes out of boredom. He was spotted quite soon and offered to begin a professional footballer’s preparation. He attended school alongside with practicing, but he was not good at sciences, so football became his priority.

When 17, Karim became one of the best players of the Olympique Lyonnais reserve team. In 2004, Benzema joined the team’s main squad. First, he was frequently compared with David Trezeguet as Benzema played in the position of forward and was masterful in swaying by the opponent’s defence. Soon he became one of the Lyonnais’ main forwards and faced comparisons with Zinedine Zidane having Algerian roots as well. After successful displays in 2007 when Benzema scored several very important goals in the UEFA Champions League and Ligue 1 he became of interest for many European clubs. Among them were such great clubs as Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Milan. But the club’s management flatly refused to sell their key player.

Only in summer 2009 Real Madrid owners managed to offer a sum the French managers failed to resist. The transfer cost almost 35 million euros plus some bonuses like the agent’s interest. The player’s presentation gathered almost 20 thousand supporters and Karim got the jersey with number 11. Last season Benzema scored 8 goals in 7 matches which proved his excellent shape and ability to fight for championship titles.

Karim occupies a leading position in the national team’s squad. He is the team’s main central forward who takes part in all major international tournaments where team France participates. However, over the last years there has been a clear misunderstanding with coaches as Benzema was not included in the roster for the FIFA World Cup in RSA.

Playing for his club Karim has managed to score around 100 times and make almost 40 goal assists. Moreover, he scored the anniversary 300th goal of Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League.