Benzema: "The beginnings at Real Madrid were difficult, that forced me to reflect on what I had to improve"

   MADRID, 24 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Real Madrid footballer Karim Benzema, winner of the 2022 Ballon d'Or, acknowledged that starting at the white club were "difficult", forcing him to "reflect" on how he could improve, being aware that he had "everything necessary to succeed" in the Madrid entity.

"The beginnings were difficult, very difficult, because I was very young and very lonely at Madrid. I didn't know the language. The first season was very complicated, but it also forced me to reflect and say: 'This is not easy. talent, everything I need to succeed at this club, but I have to find out what I need to improve to keep growing. If I continue at the level I'm at now, I won't be able to succeed,'" the Frenchman said in an interview with GQ magazine collected by Europe Press.

The forward picked up the 2022 Ballon d'Or on Monday, October 17, after a career of "constant growth". "One more dream that comes true. I try to fulfill all my dreams, at least in terms of my career. What I have dreamed of, I achieve. I achieve my purpose and move on to the next one. This one has a special meaning because it has been my goal since I was very young. All footballers dream of winning the Ballon d'Or one day," he said about the award.

His last season at Real Madrid has been the best and most fruitful in terms of statistics (44 goals and 15 assists in 46 games). In addition, to be capital in the white double, with League and Champions. "Although I had already won four Champions Leagues before, we had a great team. The fifth was more special. Not that I participated more in it, but I felt that way," he said about the Champions League won in Paris a few months ago.

However, he remembered several important moments throughout his career, such as his first goal in the Champions League with Olympique de Lyon, with Gérard Houllie on the bench. "I scored at the Gerland stadium in front of my whole family, and there have been more. Later, when I made my debut with Madrid. They were exceptional moments. Also the first goal I scored. Then there are the most recent ones in the Champions League," he listed.

Immersed in a new season, the World Cup with France is his next big challenge, in a team that will arrive in Qatar as a candidate to revalidate its world throne. A tournament for which he is "relaxed" and which he sees as "a celebration". "It's a matter of being good. [When] you're good, you give yourself as much as possible. You make an effort. The World Cup, the Champions League, for me are moments of celebration. Not everyone can play in the World Cup with the French team. There are only 23 French players good enough," he explained.

The Ballon d'Or distinction comes to the French striker at 34 years of age, being the oldest player to achieve it since the Englishman Stanley Matthews raised the award in 1956. However, Benzema has not yet considered his retirement and doubts about his future after the goodbye to the playing fields. "I don't know. Maybe help young people to train, guide them to become good footballers who understand that being the best is actually more than scoring goals," he said.

"I think we don't train young players well in today's football. If you ask them, today they just want to score goals. Everybody wants to score. But that's not all. Maybe I'll try to be close to those young players to train them. I don't want to get away too much of football2, he added.

For this reason, he believes that, rather than giving advice, the youngest "must be allowed to develop their own ideas". "That they say to themselves: 'What do I have to do to become a professional?' you stay with what you think will work for you," he deepened.

"I have little brothers, I have nephews, and I know it. If you insist and pester them, after a while they won't want to listen to you. That's what playing football is, that's how I see it. The only thing I can tell them is that they look for the best example to follow. I am one of many players. If you want to be like me, perfect, no problem, I can help you and give you some advice, but then you have to think about your own dreams. You don't have to nobody guides them. That they continue playing football and loving football, and that's it, "he settled.