Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema confirmed the depth of the crisis he is experiencing with coach "Roosters" Didier Deschamps.
During the upcoming international break, the French Football Federation intends to honour its internationally retired players who took this step after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
France will host the Netherlands next Friday in the opening of their qualifying campaign for the European Cup (Euro 2024), for Group B.
According to French reports, the French Federation will honor Hugo Lloris and Steve Mandanda, goalkeepers "Roosters", Tottenham and Rennes respectively, and Raphael Varane defender Manchester United along with Benzema before kick-off that match.
Varane – Lloris – Benzema et Mandanda à la retraite internationale : les quatre joueurs cumulent 370 sélections.
Avec Blaise Matuidi, ils seront honorés au Stade de France vendredi prochain lors de France – Pays-Bas (en direct sur TF1 à partir de 20h35) @SaberDesfa pic.twitter.com/NhYT2pkSv5
— Téléfoot (@telefoot_TF1) March 19, 2023
But the French network "RMC" confirmed that Benzema will not respond to this invitation, against the backdrop of his strained relationship with Deschamps, who ruled him out of participating in the World Cup Qatar under the pretext of injury.
Deschamps had justified Benzema's exclusion from World Cup, in statements he made for the first time to the French newspaper "Le Parisien" on the tenth of March 2023, which did not appeal to the French striker, who responded to her on social media.
"Benzema joined us on 14 November 2022 after a period in which he struggled with his club, and then started an individual programme, which postponed his appearance in group training with the national team," Deschamps said.
"I would have liked to involve him against Australia (France's opening match in World Cup) but he was injured, he had an MRI in the presence of our doctor, he also sent the results of the tests to the doctors in Madrid, and after midnight he gave me the report, as our doctor's diagnosis matched that of the Madrid doctors."
He explained that "the results showed that Benzema's return to training will not happen before the tenth of December 2022, and this is at best, then I talked to him for 20 minutes and asked him to agree with the team manager, and when I woke up in the morning I learned of his departure, it was his decision, and I understood his position and respected him, and he will not tell you otherwise."
Karim Benzema on Instagram after Deschamps said it was the strikers choice to leave the Qatar World Cup camp...
"The audacity of this 🤡! Holy Didier. Goodnight." pic.twitter.com/PAEjej06iQ
— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) March 10, 2023
Benzema's response came faster than Deschamps expected, as the player posted a picture of him – via the feature "Story" via his Instagram account – standing next to the France coach, and commented on it: "What a rudeness, Didier, good evening," accompanied by a clown emoji.
It is noteworthy that Benzema announced his retirement from international play after the end of the World Cup, in which France finished runners-up to Argentina.
The 2022 Ballon d'Or winner wrote on 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."