Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema responded harshly to France coach Didier Deschamps, accusing him of lying and describing him as a "clown", in light of his statements about the reasons for the player's departure from the "Roosters" camp a few hours before the start of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Benzema had left the French national team camp in Doha one day before the start of the Qatar World Cup, and the French Federation announced at the time that the player had left after suffering an injury during the national team's training.
Deschamps confirmed the same information, during an interview with the French newspaper "Le Parisien", indicating that he intended to rely on Benzema in the World Cup despite going through a difficult period before the tournament, but his renewed injury prevented that and caused his exclusion.
📲 Benzema responding to Deschamps, saying it was Benzema's decision to leave the World Cup:
"What audacity 🤡" pic.twitter.com/JZBMslZ26j
— Madrid Zone (@theMadridZone) March 10, 2023
Benzema published - through the private "Al-Asturi" in his official account on Instagram - several quotes from Deschamps' statements, and commented on one of them by saying: "What insolence, oh God, Didih, good evening," and followed his words with an emoji of a clown.
He followed this up with another post in which he wrote: "Dear Didier, good night," along with a video clip of a man repeating the word "liar" several times.
🚨 Karim Benzema sur Instagram à propos de Didier Deschamps: pic.twitter.com/ml9snNNNgg
- Instant Foot ⚽️ (@lnstantFoot) March 10, 2023
Last December, Karim Al-Jaziri (Benzema's agent) criticized Deschamps' decision to drop the player from the list of "roosters" in the World Cup, describing him as a liar, and then published a video clip proving that his client was not suffering from any injury.
Al-Jaziri tweeted at the time, "I put before you here the consultation of 3 specialists who confirmed the previous diagnosis, which is that Benzema could have participated in the World Cup, and at least be a substitute, and then play normally, starting from the final price round."
Je pose ça la mais avant ça j'ai consulté 3 specialists qui confirment le diagnostic que @Benzema aurait pu être apte à partir des 1/8 éme pour au moins être sur le bank!
Do you want to ask for a part of your life?
pic.twitter.com/wtOHhDeDVW
- Karim Djaziri (@KDjaziri) December 26, 2022
During his statements, Deschamps revealed the reasons for Benzema's exit from the World Cup camp, and said, "There is one truth, and Karim knows it well."
He added, "Karim is upset because this World Cup meant a lot to him. After the results of the examination confirmed his injury, he told me that he was suffering, and in the best case scenario, he cannot return to training before the tenth of December."
And he continued, "I asked him not to rush and organize his return to training with the director of the national team, but the next morning, I was surprised that he left the camp.. This was his decision."
It is noteworthy that Benzema announced his retirement from international football after the end of the World Cup, in which France finished runners-up to Argentina.
And the 2022 Golden Ball winner wrote - through his Twitter account - "I made an effort and made mistakes until I reached where I am today. I am proud of that. I wrote my story, and our story with the national team is over."