Karim Benzema and Zinedine Zidane have shared a special bond for over ten years now. Then duo claimed three Champions League victories as well as two League titles during their time together in Real Madrid. Beyond what grass may bring together, the last two French Ballon d’Or winners have forged a fraternal tie.
In an interview with ‘L’Equipe’ the former player and coach of the Los Blancos, who has already been awarded the finest player in the world, is effusive in his admiration for his student.
The bond between “Zizou” and Benzema goes beyond what can be achieved by coexisting in a football locker room. The two Frenchmen forged an almost familial bond while they were teammates at Real Madrid. “I’m almost Karim’s older brother; we like to refer to each other as little brother and big brother. We have more or less the same background—he is from Lyon, and I am from Marseille. And we both grew up in a neighbourhood, and not everything was easy for us at first. We were simple young people from the suburbs who had the dream of becoming professional footballers, and we achieved it with a lot of work. We actually share a lot of things in common because of our shared ancestry: our ancestors are from small Kabylia towns in Algeria that are close by. We’ve discussed it numerous times.”
Karim Benzema and Zinedine Zidane: The greatest exports from Algeria
Being from the same nation, as is nearly always the case in today’s globalised football, brought Zinedine and Karim together in Madrid. The former Juventus man said, “We’re not precisely from the same generation. But almost everything links us, which is perhaps why our connection is so strong. When I was the director of Real Madrid and José Mourinho was the manager of the team. I first met him before I became his coach. We grew closer as we shared a language and started conversing frequently.”
We have great technical quality, but we always knew we had to work. Like me during my career, he always stayed on the pitch. After training to improve in front of goal in particular. days he arrives 45 minutes before kickoff. “Zizou” commented on the similarities between the two, among which is, without a doubt, perseverance: “As a child, the Brazilian Ronaldo was his absolute idol, I really wanted to be like him, but I know that I was also a player who admired.”
