Karim Benzema Overcome Many Problems While Growing Up But He Did Not Prevent Him From Making A Difference

 

Karim Benzema Overcome Many Problems While Growing Up But He Did Not Prevent Him From Making A Difference

Karim Benzema childhood story is filled with issues. Ideally, he overcomes many problems while growing up but he did not prevent him from making a difference.

Karim Benzema was born on 19th December 1987 by Hafid Benzema in the city of Lyon, France by (father) and Wahida Djebbara (mother).

The Sagittarius born Benzema is the sixth son out of nine children in his family. He descended from a family of immigrants from Algeria who got settled in the troubled neighbourhood of Bron (a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon, eastern France).

Following bad gangs led to a life that invited him to crime as a kid. It was his father’s discipline that made the big change to his behaviour. His father was a disciplinarian who installed great discipline to Karim.

 He stopped his son from having fun in his troubled neighbourhood.

It was not easy for a family of immigrants to settle in one of Lyon’s most troubled neighbourhoods, the Bron. His father decided to put him to study in a Catholic school and from the first moment, he was not well received.

 Karim had many problems interacting with other children given his Algerian origin which he felt was discriminating.

Back then, he was somewhat chubby and had problems of over-pressure which did not help. He had problems of being overweight and being bullied by his schoolmates.

But with time, Benzema changed to be a better person. He became more and more known in the neighbourhood. Karim modified the eating habits and began losing some weight.

Benzema started his footballing career at his hometown club of Bron Terraillon when he was just 8 years old. 

He was nicknamed as Coco by his friends when he started playing football at a very early age. He started attracting attention from Lyon club officials when he scored two goals at a U-10 match against the Lyon Youth Academy.

He was scouted by Lyon’s officials and they directly visited him to persuade Bron Terraillon to sell him. Then-club president, Serge Santa Cruz refused to sell him.

 It was after Lyon’s officials talked to Benzema’s parents the deal was done. And that was when Benzema served as a ballboy at Lyon’s senior team games. They did not hesitate to get their services and with 9 years old Karim.

Benzema served as a ball boy even as he played for their youth team.

His overweight looks did not prevent him from making a difference. Karim Benzema started an introverted life at Olympique Lyon. He was never used to leaving home.

Many criticize him for being a player with a somewhat introverted personality. They did so without knowing his history of not getting close to people. Karim was a quiet and timid person who dealt with homesickness.

Later on, these difficulties have forged him into a character and the result of all this is the current Benzema you know today.

Benzema was a huge success as a youngster in Lyon as quickly rose through the youth academy and scored a whopping 32 goals for Lyon’s U-16 team in the U-16 French League.

Even before Karim Benzema was a household name among football lovers, he was already winning titles. He was a part of the U-17 French football team which won its maiden UEFA European U-17 Football Championship which took place in France in 2004.

He was a part of the team which consisted of players such as Hatem Ben Arfa, Samir Nasri and Jeremy Menez. The French U-17 team beat Spain in the final of that tournament with a very late winner from Nasri.

When Benzema was drafted into the first team at of Lyon, he had to interact with the already established first-team players. And the crop of first-team players Lyon had back then was including the likes of Florent Malouda, Sylvian Wiltord and John Carew.

When Benzema first met these players, he was subjected to jokes by them which he didn’t find very pleasant. He reacted spontaneously by replying,

 “Do not laugh at me. Remember I was once a ball boy to you all, but now, I’m here to compete, take the club’s number 10 shirt and take your places.”

And he backed his claims. He went on to establish himself as Lyon’s favoured number 9 who wore the 10 shirts.

He scored a total of 66 goals in 148 appearances across all competitions before making the switch to Real Madrid. The rest, as they say, is history.

It wasn’t Lionel Messi, and it wasn’t Cristiano Ronaldo. Benzema has scored the fastest goal in the history of El Clasico.

Arguably the biggest match in world football right now with a host of stars on the show.

Benzema has outdone all big stars of El Classico by scoring the fastest goal in the history of the fixture.

In 2011, Benzema scored just 21 seconds after kickoff to put Real Madrid ahead, although they lost 3-1 in the end. His record remains intact.

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