Karim Benzema: His Childhood Story and Other Untold Biography Facts

To go on stage at the Chatelet Theater in Paris, he wore a black suit with a special detail on the collar of his shirt. Dressed as the rapper Tupac had done when he attended the gala of the American Music Awards in January 1996, months before he was shot dead in Las Vegas, Karim Benzema received his first Ballon d’Or from the hands of Zinedine Zidane, his idol. In the city of light, the extraordinary Real Madrid striker polished off what is probably his best individual trophy, the one that decorated him as the best footballer in the world.

It may sound ironic, but the sixth son of a family from Kabylia, Algeria, he was born in the suburbs of Lyon. His parents, Hadid Benzema and Wahida Djebbara, marked the path for him with great rigor and he sought refuge with his brothers, but he could not escape that terrible feeling of not belonging to a place. He did not feel he had French blood and in his land they never felt he was completely French.

In the midst of this adverse context, Benzema became strong, dodged bullets as if they were rival defenders, overcame harassment, built a name, became a soccer star and is now at the top, at the same table in the they sat down Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for a long time and who also gave a space to his friend Luka modric. At 34 years old, he reached the top, but when he was born, that December 19, 1987, his world was completely different.

. That tough footballer profile, as if he had no emotions, was formed in those dark days. As a boy he began to associate with gangs in Bron, the neighborhood where he was born and raised. But his father knew how to get him out of that way. They even helped him correct his eating habits, something that helped improve his physical condition.

His path in football began when he was eight years old at the Bron Terraillon in his hometown. In a match against the minor divisions of the Olympique Lyon he scored two goals and aroused the interest of rival coaches. A year later he was already wearing the shirt with which he made his professional debut in 2005. He was in the ‘Leones’ until 2006 where he scored 66 goals in 148 games. But there was a fact that marked what it was made of.

“Don’t laugh, I’m here to replace one of you”

In 2009, the year he was signed by Real Madrid, a comic was published about Karim Benzema. The shot was part of a saga where the biography of the best players of that time is told, such as Leo Messi either Kaka. In the one about the scorer, the heavy jokes that he suffered in the Lyon first team are narrated.

When Karim, at the age of 17, was promoted, he had to give a speech in the center of a locker room that had players like Florent Malouda, Eric Abidal, Michael Essien and Giovane Elber.

The striker, far from being intimidated, looked them in the eye and said: “I don’t care what jokes they make about me. Dont laugh. I’m here to replace one of you”. After that challenge to the Olympique heavyweights, Benzema ended up becoming a benchmark for the team.

A coke, the beginning of “a love story” between Florentino Pérez and Benzema

When to Karim Benzema not even his father understood Florentino Perez she went home to the Bron neighborhood in Lyon and sat down to wait for him. A story that the president of Real Madrid himself cataloged as “a love story”. It was in 2009, when Pérez decided to take over the reins of the club.

I had never done it before. She never did it again. Such was the conviction of the boss in the young Lyon striker whom he saw as Ronaldo Nazario, that he went directly to his home to sign him. Once at the Benzema house, they offered him a coke while the parents called their son. “Come right now,” they told him. But Karim was with his friends and he told them no. “You have to come, Florentino is here”they replied through the cell phone.

After hearing the name of the president of Madrid, the first image that came to Benzema’s head was that of Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo and Beckham, the galácticos that Pérez hired in his first term. He left his friends, went home, said a shy hello to Florentino, who addressed him and his family in French, and they closed his transfer to Real Madrid.

His most visible scandals in Spain

His arrival in Spain did not detach him from his roots or from the problems that he was going through there. According to Spanish media, most of the brothers and friends of Karim Benzema They continue to live in Bron, and it is the soccer player who helps them solve problems with the law due to theft of cars or apartments, drug sales or street fights.

As soon as he arrived in Madrid, in mid-2009, he was investigated for being part of a network that worked with child pornography. He was also cited several times for speeding and not having a driving license.

No one ever doubted his talent on the field of play, but his problems outside always exposed him and kept him out of the limelight. The most critical point was the case of extortion against his teammate Mathieu Valbuena, in 2015. An alleged childhood friend of Karim Benzema, along with three other blackmailers, demanded 150,000 euros from Valbuena not to broadcast a sex video with her partner. Valbuena presented the case to his colleagues and it was Benzema himself who advised him to pay that money.

The French justice directly involved him in the case as an alleged accomplice. The French striker was arrested and spent a night in the Versailles jail.

He came out of all the conflicts in silence. He agreed to always be second, to work for others. And he reached the top with perseverance. Lionel Messi himself appears to have relinquished the crown to Benzema, admitting the Frenchman deserved the award the Argentine won seven times. “I think there are no doubts, it is very clear that Benzema had a spectacular year. He ended up consecrating himself with the Champions League, being fundamental from the round of 16 forward in all the games. I think there are no doubts this year.”. Today, Karim is on top of the world.

The top 10 of the Ballon d’Or:

2. Sadio Mane (Liverpool/Bayern)
3. Kevin deBruyne (Manchester City)
4. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern/FC Barcelona)
5. Mohammed Salah (Liverpool)
6. Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
7. Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
8. Vini Jr. (Real Madrid)
9. Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
10. Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund/Manchester City)

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