France sealed yesterday a back-to-back appearance at the World Cup Final after beating Morocco (2-0), and will play Argentina for the trophy at Lusail Stadium on Sunday, in what is a much anticipated match between two football power houses, which brings huge expectations from fans, and media. After Les Blues semifinal ended, there was a lot to unpack, but one headline in particular made the top of the news outlets right away.
Benzema Will Be Available For The Final
As soon as the news broke out, media started to ask all types of questions to France’s manager Didier Deschamps, who played down the news and did not get into any details regarding the topic.
Benzema’s injury was announced before the start of the tournament, and he left France’s camp to rehab his injury, but has now been cleared and declared fit to play. The Real Madrid striker and can be included in the France squad for the final, since Deschamps never took him off the 26-man list even though he was absent for the entire tournament.
Should Deschamps Play Him?
There’s still no final confirmation that the current Ballon D’ Or will in fact be joining the team for the World Cup Final, but there’s no reason to believe he will not be supporting his fellow teammates for this huge match in Qatar.
Regardless, it would be madness to think that Deschamps would start him in the final, not only because he will not be in playing rhythm, but because current starter Olivier Giroud has been crucial for this (and last) World Cup campaign, and even scored France’s decisive goal against England in the quarterfinals.
France’s squad needs to use Benzema’s recovery as a morale boost, nothing more, and Didier Deschamps should only play him in the grand finale in an emergency scenario if his team find themselves down in the second half.
Would you play Karim Benzema in the final?
