Zinedine Zidane and Karim Benzema have a very special relationship. The Frenchmen see each other as brothers. Under Zidane, Benzema and Real Madrid won the historic hat-tricks of UEFA Champions League titles.
Karim Benzema is now in the best phase of his career and has become the best player in the world as he won the Ballon d’Or 2022 award. The award was presented to him by Zinedine Zidane.
Zidane was full of praise for his former player after Benzema won the Ballon d’Or. He revealed the secret behind Karim Benzema becoming the best player in the world.
Zinedine Zidane reveals the secret behind Karim Benzema becoming the best player in the world
Zidane said in an interview with L’Equipe, via Marca: “I’m almost an older brother to Karim, that’s what we both like to call each other: little brother and big brother.”
“We have more or less the same background. He’s from Lyon, I’m from Marseille… We both grew up in a neighborhood where it wasn’t all easy for us at the beginning.”
“We were simple youngsters from the suburbs who had the dream of becoming professional footballers and we achieved it with a lot of hard work.”
“We really have a lot of things in common, even from our origins. Our families come from nearby villages in Algeria, in the small Kabylia. We’ve talked about it several times.”
Zidane also commented on Benzema’s struggling after joining Real Madrid. He said: “He arrived very young. Even when he had problems and people thought he was going to throw in the towel, he said to himself ‘I want to win here and I’m going to be the best’. And he managed to do it.”
“Despite the criticism and the enormous pressure at a club like this, he never got discouraged, he’s very strong. That’s what I love about him. He never gave up. He let people speak and, today, his record and his stats speak for him.”
Zidane now thinks that Benzema has become a legend of Real Madrid. He said: “He became a legend at this club, he achieved incredible things and will be remembered by people for a long time.”
“I am happy for him because he deserves what he has won. He always had confidence in himself, even when some people were saying ‘Karim, he doesn’t score enough goals to be a No.9’.”
“And it wasn’t fair, because when he doesn’t score, he always makes others play well.”
Read: Adidas celebrates Benzema’s Ballon d’Or win with a stunning film and golden memorabilia
