A ‘hugely bitter’ Karim Benzema snubbed a France retirement tribute on the night new captain Kylian Mbappe fired the Blues into a new era by crushing Holland.
The two superstar strikers were meant to be honoured together at the Stade de France on Friday before their opening Euro 2024 qualifier.
Instead, Benzema, 35, sent the France Football Federation a courtesy email saying: ‘I won’t be available’.
He was furious that France manager Didier Deschamps sent him home from the Qatar World Cup in December, despite a thigh injury only requiring minor treatment.
The Ballon d’Or winner even turned down an offer from French president Emmanuel Macron to fly back for the Qatar final, which his country lost to Argentina.
Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema snubbed a France retirement tribute as he is still ‘hugely bitter’ over being sent home from the Qatar World Cup by Les Bleus boss Didier Deschamps.
Benzema would have likely taken part in a pre-match tribute which saw France pay respect to Hugo Lloris, Raphael Varane, Blaise Matuidi and Steve Mandanda after their retirements.
A Paris source close to the Real Madrid player said: ‘Karim has never been happy with the way he was treated by Deschamps and the France hierarchy and staying away from the Holland game showed how hugely bitter he is.
‘He has won 24 trophies with Real Madrid alone, including five Champions League medals, but remains certain that France would have won their third World Cup in Qatar if he’d been playing. Argentina played injured attackers, but Deschamps has a history with Karim and never really wanted to use him at all.’
Neither Mbappe or his manager agreed to discuss the row with Benzema, with Deschamps saying: ‘The subject is closed. It’s a closed subject — one that’s behind us because I’m not going to comment on any of it again.’
Despite the friction, Mbappe spearheaded an unstoppable France to a 4-0 victory against the Netherlands.
The 24-year-old Paris Saint-Germain hitman scored twice, and also teed up vice-captain Antoine Griezmann for the first goal.
It meant that Mbappe, who was born within a short walk of the Stade de France just after France won their first World Cup in 1998, has already scored 38 for the Blues.
He went above Benzema with his brace — who retired from France on 37 — and is well on course to beat Olivier Giroud’s record 53.
Deschamps confirmed he expected nothing different from his star striker. ‘The captain’s armband is not going to change him,’ he said. ‘He’s getting involved and is enjoying himself.
‘He’s making efforts like his teammates do. He also changed positions occasionally, he knew how to compensate.
‘He is the skipper but he already in played games like this. Like the rest of the squad, he had that desire to produce a very good game and, most of all, to win.’
The Holland game also included an emotional goodbye to France from injured Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris, 36, and Manchester United’s Raphael Varane, 29.
They stood with their children on the half-way line before the Holland match, and received a standing ovation from the crowd.
Lloris — the most successful goalkeeper in French football history having appeared in two World Cup finals and won one — handed over the captain’s armband to Mbappe, and his Number 1 shirt to Mike Maignan.
Benzema was sent home despite only needing minor treatment on a thigh injury he suffered.
Maignan, who plays for AC Milan, kept a clean sheet and saved a penalty at the end of the game, highlighting how much of a danger France will pose to Ireland in their next Euros game in Dublin on Monday.
While the French camp was celebrating, it was a very different picture in the Dutch dressing room.
Ronald Koeman’s second stint in charge of the Oranje could not have started in a worse manner though they should be able to take their anger out on group whipping boys Gibraltar in Rotterdam on Monday.
Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo, one of a handful of Dutch stars who missed the French mauling through illness, could recover though whoever plays Koeman insists: ‘I now expect a reaction.
‘The virus has left its mark, but I don’t want to use that as an excuse. We have failed ourselves. We have to learn from this.’
Source: dailymail.co.uk
