He was born to a middle-class Muslim family. Born in Lyon, France. [164] He scored again one week later in a 1–0 away over Granada, assisted by Cristiano Ronaldo. [137] In the club's next Champions League match against Lyon, Benzema scored again netting the opener. [169] One week later, on 23 April, Benzema scored the only goal of the game to win the first leg of a Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich, 1–0. [74] The goals brought his total tally in the pre-season with Real Madrid to five, making him the joint top scorer alongside fellow striker Raúl. [276] In the team's first match, a 3–0 win against Honduras in Porto Alegre on 15 June, he scored a goal in each half, the first from a penalty kick. Initially, I thought he was Turkish or Lebanese because he seems paler. [250] He returned to the team in its final group game against Italy and was given a place in the starting lineup. [14][21] He would subsequently sign his first professional contract, agreeing to a three-year deal. [160], On the first matchday of the UEFA Champions League, Benzema scored an equalizer against Manchester City in 3–2 win at Santiago Bernabéu. [134] After going scoreless in three consecutive league matches, he scored his third league goal of the campaign against Rayo Vallecano in a 4–2 win. [275], On 6 June 2014, Benzema was named in France's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, making his debut in the tournament. His parents are Hafid Benzema and Wahida Djebbara. [132] Benzema made his league debut for Madrid in the team's 6–0 away win over Real Zaragoza. rcel.type = 'text/javascript'; [98], Due to Mourinho preferring Ronaldo and Higuaín as his forwards,[97] Benzema began the campaign as a substitute coming off the bench in the team's opening league match of the season against Mallorca. Karim Benzema: Age: 33 Years: Nick Name: Karim Benzema: Birth Name: Karim Mostafa Benzema: Birth Date: 1987-12-19: Gender: Male: Profession: Footballer: Place Of Birth: Lyon, France: Nationality: French: Father: Hafid Benzema : Mother: Wahida Djebbara: Grand Parents: Da Lakehal Benzema: Religion: Muslim: Horoscope: Sagittarius: Brothers: Farid Benzema, Sabri Benzema and … Cora Gauthier is a model and social media star known as the wife of French footballer Karim Benzema. In addition to his goalscoring, Benzema is known for his willingness and ability to drop into deeper or wider positions, and either link-up play with midfielders, or use his strength and technical ability to hold up the ball with his back to goal to provide assists for teammates, courtesy of his vision, creativity, passing, and eye for the final ball; because of his playing style, he has been described as a "nine and a half" in the media. I was surprised that he’s full Algerian/Berber, as they tend to have “African” features (darker skin, wider nose). To coincide with his benching, the striker was also being criticized by the Spanish media for his under-performance and difficulties settling in the country as he had not yet begun learning the Spanish language. ", "Karim Benzema le footballeur est devenu papa", "Karim Benzema est papa pour la deuxième fois", "Benzema privé d'équipe de France : doit-il craindre pour ses sponsors ? [157] On 29 April, Benzema put in a masterpiece performance scoring two goals and assisting on another in a 3–0 win over Sevilla. After failing to score in the first leg, which ended 2–1 in favour of Barça,[151] in the second leg on 25 January 2012, Benzema scored his third goal of the season against the Blaugrana, but Madrid failed to win the tie losing 4–3 on aggregate. [92] After failing to score in his first two starts in the absence of Higuaín, against Deportivo La Coruña on 30 January, he scored a double in an important 3–1 away win. [305] Benzema's father, Hafid, was born in Tigzirt, while his mother, Wahida Djebbara, was born and raised in Lyon; her family originated from Oran. [13][14] According to Serge Santa Cruz, who was president of Bron Terraillon in the 1990s, Lyon officials had visited him directly in an attempt to sign the youngster; however, Santa Cruz refused. His younger brothers Gressy and Sabri are also football players. your password The accusation came from international teammate William Gallas who inserted the charge in his autobiography. I have seen African looking ones with curlier hair and broader noses. Even the US census separates North Africans from Sub-Saharan Africans into separate racial categories: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/meta/long_RHI125212.htm. [285] Directing his frustration at FFF president Noël Le Graët, Benzema later tweeted: "Mr Le Graët, with all due respect, you've lost an opportunity to remain silent. [96] Mourinho sentiments were later echoed by incoming France national team coach Laurent Blanc who acknowledged that Benzema was "not used to working". [25] A month later, Benzema scored his first professional double in a 4–0 win over Grenoble in the Coupe de France. [136] He also assisted on the opener, which was scored by Ronaldo. In that match played at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, which France won 6–0, Benzema scored France's sixth and final goal in the 50th minute after turning home Franck Ribéry's left-wing cross. [79] In the match, Benzema assisted on a Cristiano Ronaldo goal. In between those clashes, on 23 April 2011, Benzema scored a goal and assisted on another in a 6–3 win over Valencia. He returned to the starting lineup on 19 February and embarked on a run in which he scored ten goals in eight matches. [258] Two months later, he scored another goal in a 3–1 victory against Tunisia at the Stade de France. At the age of 8, Benzema started to be interested in football … While at the club, he was nicknamed Coco by friends and, after scoring two goals in an under-10 match against the Lyon youth academy, began attracting attention from the biggest club in the city. In December 2006, the striker was approached by former federation president Hamid Haddadj and then-national team coach Jean-Michel Cavalli, but turned down the invitation citing his desire to continue his international career with France. [28] Benzema opened the league campaign on a quick note scoring in the team's first match of the season against Nantes. Then it's more for the sporting side, because Algeria is my country, here, my parents come from there. His father’s name is Hafid Benzema and his mother’s name is Wahida Djebbara. [246] On 13 October, Benzema scored a double in a 6–0 win against the Faroe Islands. [138] Madrid won the match 4–0. [147], Benzema opened the 2012 portion of the campaign in positive form. [102][103], On 10 November, Benzema scored his second goal of the campaign against Real Murcia in the 2010–11 edition of the Copa del Rey. So that’s why they are “very light compared to the average Middle East”. [105] In Madrid's final group stage tie against French outfit Auxerre, Benzema scored his first hat trick for the club in a 4–0 win. [283] He responded on 1 June 2016 in Marca, in an interview entitled 'Benzema: "Deschamps folded due to pressure from France's racist element"'. Let’s look at Karim Benzema’s wife, daughter, and net worth. Other: Sexuality - Gay or Nay: Straight: His home town is Lyon, France. [82], In late November, Benzema began appearing mainly as a substitute as manager Manuel Pellegrini preferred Gonzalo Higuaín in the lead striker role. })(); Ethnicity of Celebs | What Nationality Ancestry Race © 2021. Karim Benzema was born on 19th December 1987 by Hafid Benzema in the city of Lyon, France by (father) and Wahida Djebbara (mother). He served as a ballboy during Lyon senior team matches and performed well in school being described as a student who was "discreet and respectful". Childhood & Early Life. He made his debut with the team at a local tournament in the Czech Republic. "[315] Benzema drew some criticism for these comments, as well as for his reluctance to sing the French national anthem, "La Marseillaise", before each match with the national team. [191][192] Benzema played his 400th match in all competitions for Real Madrid on 31 March in the 3–0 win at Las Palmas, captaining the team and netting the second goal with a penalty. Despite losing the title, Benzema got back on track scoring his 15th and 16th goals of the season on 17 May in a 3–1 away victory over rivals Marseille, the first goal being a penalty. [31][32] After appearing regularly during the autumn campaign, on 10 November, Benzema suffered a severe thigh injury. [153] A week later, he scored a double in a 4–0 shutout of Racing Santander. France would eventually win the second leg 3–0 to advance to the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil with a 3–2 aggregate scoreline. [23] He finished the campaign with six appearances as Lyon won its fourth-straight league title. [122][123][124], Prior to the start of the 2011–12 season, Benzema, taking the advice of compatriots Blanc and Zidane,[125][126] ventured to Merano, Italy, to attend a high performance clinic where he underwent treatment to reduce his weight. [183] It was Benzema's tenth title with Real Madrid, and finished the competition as joint-second topscorer with two goals in two matches. [247] After appearing regularly in the team for the rest of the 2007–08 season, he was named to the 23-man squad to participate in UEFA Euro 2008. His younger brothers, Gressy and Sabri, are also footballers. [38] In the knockout rounds, Lyon faced Manchester United and Benzema continued to score, this time it was from outside the penalty box in the first leg match which ended in a 1–1 draw[39] and United eventually won the tie 1–2 on aggregate. ", "Franck Ribéry and Karim Benzema held in prostitution investigation", "French prosecutors accept that Ribery did not know prostitute was a minor", "French court drops Ribery and Benzema prostitution case", "Karim Benzema arrested by police in sex-tape blackmail case", "Benzema n'est plus sélectionnable en équipe de France", "Affaire de la " sextape " de Valbuena : une victoire judiciaire pour Karim Benzema", "Real Madrid star Karim Benzema to stand trial in sex tape case", "the "likes" of French footballers on a post by Nourmagomedov are controversial - RT in French", "FACTBOX-Soccer-Real Madrid signing Karim Benzema", "55 players on shortlist FIFA/FIFPro WORLD XI", "FIFPro announces shortlist for FIFA FIFPro WORLD XI", "Messi & Ronaldo lead Fifa Fifpro World XI shortlist", "Rankings: How All 55 Male Players Finished", "2015 World XI: the Reserve Teams – FIFPro World Players' Union", "2016–2017 World 11: the Reserve Teams – FIFPro World Players' Union", "FIFA FIFPro World XI: the reserve teams – FIFPro World Players' Union", "2016 World 11: the reserve teams – FIFPro World Players' Union", "UEFA Champions League 2011/12 – History – Statistics", "Karim Benzema, LaLiga Santander Player of the Month for June", "Barcelona rallies to beat Madrid in Clásico", "Trophées UNFP: Benzema meilleur joueur français de l'étranger", "La UEFA se olvida de Oblak en sus equipo ideal de la Liga", "Benzema, winner of the Alfredo Di Stéfano 'Marca' Award", "Sergio Ramos, in the L'Equipe team of the year", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Karim_Benzema&oldid=1012945713, France under-21 international footballers, Wikipedia pending changes protected pages, Articles using Template:Medal with Winner, Articles with French-language sources (fr), Pages using national squad without sport or team link, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers, Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:10, 7 March 2021 (UTC), This page was last edited on 19 March 2021, at 05:19. [81] On 7 November, in the El Derbi madrileño against Atlético Madrid, Benzema assisted on Madrid's second goal, scored by Marcelo. He owns a net worth of $40 Million. [252], In November 2008, Benzema, among several other young players in the team, was accused of being insolent during the team's campaign at the European Championship. Karim’s father, Hafid, was born in Tighzert, while Karim’s mother, Wahida Djebbara, was born and raised in Lyon; her family originated from Oran. [61] The next nine matches, both Benzema and Lyon's form dwindled losing four matches, drawing three and winning only two with Benzema scoring only two goals in that stretch, both of them against Le Mans in a 3–1 victory. On 13 March 2008, Benzema extended his contract with Lyon until 2013 with a one-year extension option. [109] In late January, for the first time in his Real Madrid career, Benzema scored goals in back-to-back matches. [229] In the first round of qualification for the UEFA-sanctioned tournament, he scored his only goal in the final group match against Austria. [167] On 23 March, Benzema scored two goals against fierce rivals Barcelona in El Clásico at the Bernabéu from two crosses by Ángel Di María, taking his goal tally in La Liga to 17 goals, though Barcelona won the match 4–3. They wear the blue jersey, the colours of France, which are so important in these moments. The French Soccer Player was born in Lyon, France on December 19, 1987. Benzema was called up for the first time to the senior national team by Raymond Domenech on 9 November 2006 for the team's friendly match against Greece that would be played on 15 November. As a practicing Muslim, Karim observes fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. [119] It was the only match of the campaign that Real Madrid loss, in which Benzema scored. But good after sporting, it's true that I will play in French team. Mostafa showed an interest in sports from quite an early age. [101] Afterwards, the striker failed to score a domestic goal for nearly two months. [248] The match finished 0–0 and Benzema was, subsequently, criticized by the French media for his performance with newspaper Le Point declaring that Benzema was "unrecognizable" and that he "symbolized the impotence of France in the attack". Like many famous people and celebrities, Karim Benzema keeps his personal life private. [41], —Benzema in 2008 after being compared to his French compatriot Zidane.[42]. A fter his harsh response to French Football Federation president Noel Le Graet, Karim Benzema has opened the possibility of playing international football with Algeria.. Benzema… Following the winter break, Benzema endured a rough patch going scoreless the first three games before recording his 11th goal of the season against Nice in a 3–1 victory. [174] The next weekend, he scored a brace in the 5–0 victory against Athletic Bilbao in La Liga. He is of Algerian ethnicity. Karim Benzema Childhood Story Plus Untold Biography Facts: Early Life. Karim Mostafa Benzema is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for Spanish club Real Madrid. [320] On 20 July, Benzema was questioned by Paris police and indicted on the charge of "solicitation of a minor prostitute". [9][10][11], —Benzema on the influence of his idol, Brazilian striker Ronaldo, on his own career. He scored three of Real Madrid's 13 goals of the month, in which they won three matches and only conceded just one goal. He scored goals against Granada and Málaga. [211][212] On 27 October, he scored a goal in a 2–2 draw against Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Champions League, to become the second player in history after Lionel Messi to score in 16 consecutive Champions League seasons. It's more sporty, that's it. [139], —José Mourinho, on Benzema's successful progression in 2011. On 30 April 2013, Benzema scored one goal and assisted to Sergio Ramos against Dortmund. Benzema attended Olympique Lyonnais Academy. Ukraine had won the first leg of the play-off 2–0 in Kyiv just four days earlier. [189], On 20 September 2017, Benzema signed a contract extension that will keep him at the club until 2021. [270] On 5 June, in the team's final warm-up friendly ahead of the European Championship, Benzema scored two goals in a 4–0 shutout win over Estonia. [118] On 30 April, he scored a goal in the team's 3–2 loss to Real Zaragoza. His grandfather, Da Lakehal Benzema, lived in the village of Tighzert, located in the northern town of Beni Djellil in Kabylie, Algeria, before migrating to Lyon, where he eventually settled in the 1950s. [249] The newspaper also cited his lack of international experience for his subdued performance. [205] Three days later, in the next league match, he scored a first-half brace in a 4–0 win at Eibar, overtaking Ferenc Puskás as the club's 6th all-time goalscorer in La Liga with 157 goals from 323 appearances. Karim Benzema’s zodiac sign is Sagittarius. [100] On 21 September, Benzema made a substitute appearance and scored his first goal of the season in a 3–0 home win against Espanyol. Benzema scored again the following weekend in a 2–0 win over Le Mans. [27], Benzema began earning more playing time in the 2006–07 season and made his competitive season debut in the 2006 Trophée des Champions against Paris Saint-Germain. [40] Lyon club president Jean-Michel Aulas later accused Ferguson of tapping-up Benzema. [223] He opened the tournament by scoring two goals in a 7–0 victory over Cameroon. He was also nominated alongside Franck Ribéry to be featured on the French cover of the video game FIFA 09. [190] Later on 6 March of the following year, Benzema made his 100th UEFA Champions League appearance by playing in the 2–1 win at Parc des Princes against Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of 2017–18 UEFA Champions League round of 16 as Real Madrid progressed to the next round 5–2 on aggregate. Nationality. [65], On 1 July 2009, it was announced that Lyon had reached an agreement with Spanish club Real Madrid for the transfer of Benzema. The 3–0 victory assured Lyon progression to the knockout rounds. Benzema appeared as a half-time substitute for Djibril Cissé and scored the only goal of the match after a free-kick from Samir Nasri. He has three brothers and five sisters. [178] On 20 December, he scored another hat trick in a 10–2 victory over Rayo Vallecano. Benzema made his debut in the competition on 9 June 2008 in the team's opening match against Romania. [149][150] The 4–2 aggregate win advanced Real Madrid to the quarter-finals where the club faced Barcelona. [233] After surprisingly drawing 0–0 with Belarus, France faced Scotland in the final group stage match. He plays for Spanish club Real Madrid and the French National football team. Well, they vary. [197] He became only the seventh Real Madrid player to achieve the feat. [54] He was among the top scorers in the Champions League group stage, scoring five goals,[55] a double against Steaua București,[56] two goals in two matches against Fiorentina,[57][58] and a goal against the eventual group winners Bayern Munich on the final match day.[59]. Coco, Karim, Benzegoal. [83][84] He was even declared the "new Anelka" by a Spanish newspaper Marca blogger, referring to former Real Madrid striker Nicolas Anelka who had a tumultuous year at the club before being sold. Real went on to win the game 2–1, the second time they beat Barcelona in a week.