Karim Benzema has crowned his surprising rehabilitation with Les Bleus by being named France Football’s national player of the year.
The Real Madrid striker was recalled by France coach Didier Deschamps after being dropped by him in late 2015 following a scandal involving a sex tape featuring a former teammate.
“It had been almost six years since I last played, I had to feel my way a little, watch, adapt. It didn’t take long,” Benzema, who turned 34 in December, told France Football in an interview published on Saturday.
Benzema edged two previous winners, Kyian Mbappe and N’Golo Kante, in the France Football poll announced on Friday, despite receiving a one-year suspended sentence in November.