After a miserable 2009-2010 season on and off the pitch, Karim Benzema appears to have reconnected with his competitive swagger. Last night in Sarajevo, Benzema was the protagonist of France’s precious 2-0 win over Bosnia, a win that restored some desperately needed calm to a French national side mired in scandals and massive underachievement for years. For the first time in seven or eight months, the French media had some hopeful and optimistic developments to report, principally the emergence of Benzema as the engine of a “new” France.
Karim Benzema appears set for a break-out year.
Benzema’s talent has never been questionable, but indiscipline and occasional ambivalence left him on the Real Madrid bench for long stretches of last season, as well as out of France’s World Cup squad. In both regards, despite Benzema’s errors, his coaches bear some responsibility. It was incumbent on Pellegrini to get the most out of a 21 year old super talent that Madrid paid dearly for, a task in which he failed miserably with Benzema and a few others. As for Raymond Domenech, leaving Benzema out of the French team turned out to be a huge misjudgment that cemented the lack of trust between Domenech and his players.
Benzema seems to have improved his discipline and concentration. Under the tutelage of Jose Mourinho and, to a lesser extent, Laurent Blanc, he looks set to surpass his dominant performances of a few years ago when he propelled Lyon to the latter stages of the Champions League. He is already an integral component of Mourinho’s formation in a very competitive Real Madrid attack full of oversized egos. Mourinho recognizes his potential and will get the best of Benzema, forcefully if he has to. Blanc will be content if Benzema takes better care of his physical and mental fitness. Last night Benzema menaced the Bosnian defense incessantly and finally broke through with about 20 minutes left, scoring what he referred to as “the most important goal I have ever scored.” If he simply stays focused, he will repeat that claim on many occasions in the future, probably more than once in the current club and country campaigns.