The
Real Madrid striker could destabilise a united
France squad or just as easily
fire the team to glory at Euro 2020
By Adam White and Eric Devin for Get French
Football News
The pursuit of harmony has been the cornerstone of Didier Deschamps’ reign as France manager. The 1998 World Cup-winning captain sought to become a World Cup-winning coach not by repeatedly picking the best 23 players, but by moulding a squad defined by togetherness and bereft of cliques and clashing egos. As such, the inclusion of Karim Benzema in his 26-man party for Euro 2020 after nearly six years out in the cold was more than surprising. Deschamps’ unusually bold decision could destabilise all that he has worked so hard to achieve.
Deschamps knows the value of an excellent atmosphere more than most. In recent decades, French society has regularly been divided along racial or religious lines. But the side he captained in 1998 – which was often referred to as “black, blanc, beur” or “black, white, Arab” – brought a fractious society together by representing all of France. “It was not about religion or the colour of your skin, we didn’t care about that,” Zinedine Zidane said later. “We were just together and enjoyed the moment.”