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France: Could they have won with Karim Benzema?

By Moussa Traore

NICE, FRANCE - OCTOBER 8: Karim Benzema of France celebrates scoring a goal during the international friendly match between France and Armenia at Allianz Riviera stadium on October 8, 2015 in Nice, France. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)
NICE, FRANCE - OCTOBER 8: Karim Benzema of France celebrates scoring a goal during the international friendly match between France and Armenia at Allianz Riviera stadium on October 8, 2015 in Nice, France. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images) /
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Why Karim Benzema was the missing difference maker for France at Euro 2016.

Player of the tournament Antoine Griezmann and Andre-Pierre Gignac both had golden opportunities to give Les Blues the lead, but the side couldn’t find the net as Portugal clinched the trophy.

Had Benzema been given a place in the 23-man squad, the story might have been slightly different for France. He would have been an upgrade from Olivier Giroud and Andre-Pierre Gignac, who were both horrendous. Deschamps snubbed the Real Madrid super star due to a sex-tape scandal between fellow teammate Mathieu Valbuena.

From Deschamps side of things, it was better to sacrifice Benzema for the sake of his team chemistry. His insertion to the team would have been a problem that has hinder France’s major tournament attempts in the past.

Not to take anything away from Giroud, he did managed to score three goals at Euro 2016. But let’s not forget, his goals came against Iceland and Romania defenses that were poor. The Arsenal forward had a shot accuracy of 43% and shot more off target than on target.

Gignac, the Tigres UANL who had a lower shot percentage during the tournament (29%) than Giroud, and was a substitute in five of the six matches he appeared in.

If you take a look at all three players form in the course of the 2015/16 season, Benzema was absolutely France’s best option moving forward. He created more goals opportunities, had better shot accuracy, more assists per game, also had a higher passing percentage than the pair who eventually made roster.

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With talents like Paul Pogba, Antoine Griezmann and Dimitri Payet, Les Bleus’ required a number nine who could finish their countless opportunities.

Benzema has established himself as one of the most dominant number nine in the world. The former Lyon stand out moved Real to in 2009, exceeding all the expectations and is now one of Europe’s lethal forwards.

The 28-year-old has averaged more than a goal a game for the Spanish Giants and has two champions League, Uefa Super Cup, the Fifa Club World Cup, La Liga, two Copa Del Rey trophies and the Supercopa de Espana all to his name.