Benzema: “My beginnings in Madrid were difficult. I felt lonely”

Karim Benzema has joined the select club of Ballon d’Or winners. Modric and Zidane, the former a teammate and the latter his coach and childhood idol, presented him with the award in the build up to Madrid vs Sevilla. Dressed in casual wear as an injury ruled him out of the match, the Lyon native offered the trophy to a crowded Bernabéu that dripped in gold with more than 60,000 pieces of a stadium-wide mosaic. Before that moment, even before appearing at the Parisian Theater du Chatêlet to officially become the best player of 2022, the striker gave an extensive interview to ‘GQ Magazine’. A chat that has seen the light this Monday and one that is full of reflections, both football related and personal, and whose most outstanding content is reproduced below.

(We must have in mind that the interview is prior to the gala) Let’s start with the Ballon d’Or. How do you feel? You haven’t received it yet, but you’re the clear favourite.

“Not yet, but ever since I was a kid it has been one of my biggest goals and dreams. It wasn’t something I thought about every day; don’t think that I went to training because I wanted to win the Ballon d’Or. But it’s always been in my head, since I was a kid. I grew up with the generation of fans Zizou and Ronaldo Nazário created. They both won the Ballon d’Or. And that was it, I learned to love football by watching them. Last year, I finished fourth, I was among the finalists, but I hadn’t won the big collective trophies. This year I have won everything.”

What would it mean to you?

“One more dream that comes true. This one has a special meaning because it has been my goal since I was very young. All footballers dream of winning the Ballon d'Or one day."

Who were your heroes when you were little?

“I would say that my heroes are my father and my mother. Because they had a really bad time, really bad. I didn’t have a soccer player as an example to follow. I’m not going to tell you that I’ve always managed on my own, but coming from where I come from, I had to excel at something. At 15 or 16 I started to be inspired by Ronaldo, Zidane and others to learn, but I never said: “I want to be like him””.

When you won the Champions League, you appeared on the pitch with your children. How did you feel at that moment?

“It’s an incredible feeling, it’s wonderful. It makes me very excited when my daughter or son comes to the stadium to see me, so happy. Also, my boy loves football. These are exceptional and extraordinary moments. I don’t know how to describe them.”

What is Karim Benzema like as a father?

“There is a football anecdote with my son, Ibrahim. He’s super good at football, but when I train with him, I’m not always very nice. If he doesn’t listen to me when I pass him, give him the ball to control, etc., I act like we’re playing real football. I don’t buy a “Dad, I’m going to cry” or “I’m sad”. That kind of thing. I find it funny because my father was the same with me. This is how I relate to my son, although at the end of training I give him a hug if he has earned it [laughs]”.

What have been the moments of your career that have impacted you the most?

The first goal in the Champions League with Lyon. (...) Then, when I debuted with Madrid. They were exceptional moments. Also the first goal I scored. Then there are the most recent moments in the Champions League. Although I had already won four Champions Leagues before, we had a great team. The fifth was even more special. Not that I was more involved in it, but it felt like that.”

How would you describe your evolution in the club?

The beginnings were difficult, very difficult, because I was very young and very lonely in Madrid. I didn't know the language. The first season was very difficult, but it also forced me to reflect and say: “This is not easy. I have talent, everything I need to succeed at this club, but I have to find out what I need to improve to keep growing. If I continue at the level I'm at now, I won't be able to succeed."

During all this time, have you had to change the way you train or approach matches?

Maybe now I train a little less, but it's normal. Is the age. When I was 21, I didn't need to train like crazy. I mean how football was before, today it is different. Then, of course, I had to change my style a bit, I had to adapt.

Do you ever doubt your abilities?

No, it’s actually more of a celebration. It is a matter of being good. You try hard The World Cup, the Champions League, for me are moments of celebration. Not everyone can play, for example, in the World Cup with the French team.

What would you like to do next?

I don’t know. Maybe helping young people to train, guiding them to become good footballers who understand that being the best is actually more than scoring goals. I think we don’t train young players well in today’s football. If you ask them now, they just want to score goals. They all want to score. But not everything is that. I don’t want to move too far away from football.