The saga between Karim Benzema and Didier Deschamps brought the French’s World Cup to an unsavoury end, which has culminated in Benzema’s retirement from international football.
The two had previously had a fractious relationship, which led to Benzema’s exclusion from the national team between 2015 and 2021. However, it looked as if they had put their differences behind them when the Real Madrid captain resumed duties for his national team.
However, it appears that the two came to blows again. Stories appeared which showed that they were unhappy with one another following Benzema’s initial pulling out of the squad due to injury. Furthermore, rumours of Benzema’s return to the Les Bleus squad for Sunday’s final against Argentina were quashed by Deschamps in his pre-match press conference.
Now, news has emerged of another player being unhappy at his national team head coach. According to L’Equipe, as per MD, Benjamin Pavard was furious with Deschamps throughout the World Cup following his dropping from the starting line-up.
MD reported that Deschamps fiercely criticised Pavard, which the player did not react well to. According to journalist Romain Molina, Pavard generated great problems within the dressing room, in which he was accused of leaking private information to the press.
It’s unclear what this will mean for Pavard’s international career, and whether it could follow a similar path to Benzema’s.
Image via AFP
