It took him more than 13 years. Things you should know about Karim Benzema who won the 2022 Ballon d'Or
Real Madrid player, Karim Benzema, won the 2022 Ballon d'Or for the first time last night, but he owes it to his patience and perseverance due to the path he went through.
Karim Mostafa Benzema was born in the month of 09 on the 19th of 1987. He is 1.85 meters tall. The 34-year-old actor has Algerian parents, but he was born in Lyon, France, where he grew up.
Benzema plays in the Spanish league known as La Liga in the Real Madrid team where he is the Captain.
This player started playing football at the age of 8, starting with his hometown club called Club Bron Terraillon Sc. He just didn't wait because after only 6 months he went to Lyon's youth team because of the extraordinary skills he was showing.
In order to reach the first team, it was difficult for him because he reached the senior Lyon coached by Paul Le Guen in 2004. As a young player he needed to go and talk to his fellow players but he liked to have a lot of fun and laugh and other players he played with didn't like it.
Benzema has been a regular player for Lyon since 2007 due to the departure of key players including Florent Malouda and Silvain Wiltord. He scored 31 goals in 51 games that year.
2008 was a great year for Benzema as he won various awards including: Ligue 1 player of the year, he was in the team of the year, he won the European Young Player award.
Another thing is that he went to the list of players competing for the Ballon d'Or but it ended up being taken by Cristiano Ronaldo. That same year he quickly extended his contract at Lyon making him the highest paid player in France.
Karim Benzema arrived at Real Madrid on July 1, 2009, he was bought for 35 million euros, and he was shown 8 days later at the Real Madrid stadium. The only wonder is that the fans have welcomed him like Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Although this player has been struggling to find a place in the first place due to the strong calls that Real Madrid has had, but no one doubted his skills.
Benzema became more productive after Cristiano's departure in 2018 as he scored 30 goals that year and since then he has not been missing from Spain's team of the year.
Karim Benzem won many trophies including 4 Ligue 1 titles with Lyon, 4 Champions League titles with Real Madrid, 2 Copa del Rey titles, 5 Champions League titles and more. In the national team, he has only played with the French team in the UEFA Nations League.
This player won the 2002 Ballon d'Or award, which required him not to be discouraged, as he said, due to the years he played in a great team, but he did not win anymore.
Winning the Ballon d'Or took him to 44 goals in 46 games, top scorer in the Champions League, the Spanish league title and 13 years at Real Madrid.