Profile: Karim Benzema

Karim Benzema , born 19 December 1987 in Lyon, is a French footballer who plays as a striker who plays for Ligue 1 club Olympique Lyonnais and the French national team.

Born to parents of Algerian-Kabyle descent, Karim grew up with 8 siblings and his father Hafid in the district of Bron. His grandfather, Da Lakehal Benzema, lived in the village of Tighzert, located in the northern town of Beni Djellil in Algeria before migrating to Lyon, where he eventually settled, in the 1950s.

Benzema came through the youth academy at Lyon and has been capped at senior level for France. He played in UEFA Euro 2008 and was the top goalscorer in Ligue 1 for the 2007–08 season, just 3 seasons after making his professional debut. This was also his breakthrough season which saw him earn many awards and a new contract which resulted in him becoming one of the highest-paid footballers in France.

Olympique Lyonnais

Benzema is a product of the Olympique Lyonnais Academy. Before joining Lyon, he trained at local Rhône-Alpes club Bron Terraillon SC in the commune Bron, a suburb of Lyon. His performances with Bron’s juvenile team caught the attention of Lyon scouts and he joined the academy in 1996 at the age of 9. Benzema quickly ascending up the ranks scoring 38 goals in one season with Lyon’s under-16 team and scoring 12 goals in 14 matches with the under-18 team before earning a call up to the senior squad by manager Paul Le Guen.

He made his league debut for Lyon on January 15, 2005, during the 2004–05 season, in a match against Metz coming on as a substitute in the 77^th minute. Lyon won the match 2–0 with Benzema providing the assist on the second goal scored by Bryan Bergougnoux. Five days later, he signed his first professional contract agreeing to a three-year deal. Over the next two seasons, his play was limited making a total of 34 appearances and scoring 6 goals, including his first ever against AC Ajaccio in a 3–1 win, as well as his first UEFA Champions League goal against Norwegian club Rosenborg in a 2–1 victory.

For the 2007–08 season, with the likes of Florent Malouda, John Carew, and Sylvain Wiltord all departing the club, Benzema, despite being 19 at the time, switched to the number 10 shirt and was given control of the attack. After forming a special relationship with new manager Alain Perrin, he was given the lead striker role and responded with 31 goals in 51 games. He topped the league with 20 goals, scored four goals in the UEFA Champions League, one in the Coupe de la Ligue, and totaled 6 goals in six Coupe de France matches helping Lyon win their first ever double. Some of his more dazzling performances that season included a hat trick against Metz on 15 September, an equalizing goal in the 90^th minute from a free kick against Derby du Rhône rivals Saint-Étienne, and a goal against Lens that was nominated for goal of the season by fans. After receiving the ball on the left wing from Nadir Belhadj, Benzema became engulfed by midfielder Yohan Demont and defender Fabien Laurenti. Rather than being forced to play the ball out of bounds, Benzema performed a backheel nutmeg on Laurenti causing the defender to fall down and allowing Benzema to escaped the double team. Benzema continued through to goal and capped the run by blasting a right-footed shot past the shocked Croat Vedran Runje.

In the Champions League, Benzema scored an important brace against Rangers at Ibrox Park on the last match day of the group stage. The 3–0 victory assured Lyon progression to the knockout rounds. In the knockout rounds, Lyon faced Manchester United and Benzema continued his great form scoring on a blistering left-footed shot in the 54^th minute, despite being surrounded by five United players. The match ended in a 1–1 draw and United eventually won the tie 1–2 on aggregate. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and players later praised Benzema for his performance.

On 13 March 2008, Benzema extended his contract with Lyon until 2013 with a one year extension option. After signing his new contract, Benzema became one of the highest paid footballers in France. For his efforts that season, he was named the Ligue 1 Player of the Year, selected to the Team of the Year, and awarded the Trophée du Meilleur Buteur for being the league’s top scorer. He was also shortlisted by the French magazine France Football for the 2008 Ballon d’Or award, won by Cristiano Ronaldo.

Karim got off to a good start for the 2008–09 season scoring a brace in Lyon’s opening league match against Toulouse. The following three weeks, he scored goals against Rhône-Alpes rivals Grenoble and Saint-Étienne and scored a goal against Nice converting a penalty in the dying seconds. Lyon won all three matches. Due to his great start, Olympique Lyonnais president Jean-Michel Aulas quelled the many transfer rumors surrounding Benzema by placing a €100 million price tag on the striker. He was also nominated alongside Franck Ribéry to be featured on the French cover of the video game FIFA 09.

He scored his seventh goal of the league on 29 October scoring in the 2–0 win over Sochaux. Benzema scored again the following weekend, in a 2–0 win over Le Mans. He was among the top scorers in the UEFA Champions League group stage scoring 5 goals, a brace against Steaua Bucureşti, two goals in two matches against Fiorentina, and a goal against the eventual group winners Bayern Munich on the final match day.

Following the winter break, Benzema endured a rough patch going scoreless the first three games before recording his 11^th goal of the season against Nice in a 3–1 victory. Two weeks later, he scored his 12^th goal against Nancy in a 2–0 victory. The next nine matches, both Benzema and Lyon’s form dwindled losing four matches, drawing three, and winning only two with Benzema scoring only two goals in that stretch, a brace against Le Mans in a 3–1 victory. The bad form resulted in Lyon losing their grip on 1^st place position and eventually falling out of the title race, thus ending their streak of seven consecutive Ligue 1 titles. Benzema was a part of four of those title runs.

Despite losing the title, Benzema got back on track scoring his 15^th and 16^th goals of the season on 17 May in a 3–1 away victory over rivals Marseille, the first goal being a penalty. He scored his 17^th goal the following weekend against Caen in a 3–1 victory moving him into third place among Ligue 1 top scorers.

International career

Benzema has earned caps with all of France’s youth teams. In 2004, he was a part of the under-17 squad that won the 2004 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship, their first ever.

Before representing France, Benzema was eligible for Algeria and was called up to the squad by the Fédération Algérienne de Football in December 2006, but turned them down stating:

Algeria is my parents’ country and it is in my heart, but football-wise I will only play for the French national team.

On 28 March 2007, Benzema won his first cap for France against Austria, scoring the only goal in a 1–0 win for France. His next two goals came in one game against the Faroe Islands, who France subsequently beat 6–0.

He was selected to represent France at Euro 2008. France’s Euro 2008 campaign got off to a bad start with a 0–0 draw against Romania and after a muted performance, he was substituted in the second half and played no part in their following game, a 1–4 defeat to the Netherlands. In the last group game, France lost 2-0 to Italy and Benzema featured in the starting lineup. He has now adopted the number ten for France. He scored his last goal for France from the penalty spot against Turkey on 5 June 2009 in a friendly where they won 1–0.