Benzema becomes ambitious with age

PARIS - At last, the eternal understudy has taken centre stage. Karim Benzema spent much of his career as a glittering supporting act for Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo and, more recently, Kylian Mbappe. Now, two months short of his 35th birthday, he has the trinket that marks him as a star in his own right - a Ballon d'Or.

Despite being a late bloomer, the Frenchman said he had become more ambitious with age as the Real Madrid striker dedicated his trophy on Monday "to the people".

He is five months older than Lionel Messi was when the Argentinian won the most prestigious individual award in football for the seventh time in 2021. Indeed, Benzema is the oldest winner since England's Stanley Matthews won the very first Ballon d'Or in 1956 at the age of 41.

"Winning this trophy was always in the back of my mind but what has changed since I turned 30 is ambition," he said after collecting the prize in a star-studded ceremony at Paris' Chatelet Theatre.

Benzema was just 21 when he joined Real from Lyon in 2009. He has come into his own in the Spanish capital since Ronaldo's departure in 2018, when he was 30.

"Ambition really entered my head after that," he added.

"Ambition means working harder and being a leader for my team and I am lucky to play for Madrid, the best club in the world.

"When I was 21, or 22, I didn't have the same ambition today."

Bayern Munich's Sadio Mane, who led Senegal to victory in the Africa Cup of Nations, finished second, with Manchester City's Kevin de Bruyne in third place.

Benzema was rewarded for scoring 44 goals in 46 games last season as Real won the Champions League and La Liga.

He also won the Uefa Nations League with France, completing a remarkable career revival for a player who was frozen out of the national team for 51/2 years because of his involvement in a blackmail scandal over a sextape involving teammate Mathieu Valbuena.

"I have been through difficult moments, where I wasn't playing for the national team and so was alone at (Real's training ground) because everyone else was away playing for their countries," he said.

"I am very happy and very proud of the work I have put in."

On stage, Benzema called his prize "the Ballon d'Or of the people", a statement he later said was not intended to be political but "just a nod to where I come from".

It was only the second time since 2008 that a player other than Messi or Ronaldo has been anointed as the best on the planet - Real teammate Luka Modric was the other exception in 2018.

It was also the first time since 2006 that neither man has at least been on the podium.

Ronaldo, after a disappointing year at Manchester United, finished 20th. Messi did not even make the shortlist.

But it is hard to imagine how Benzema might not have won.

The blunt measures, of course, are the trophies - his fifth Champions League, another Spanish title - and the goals: 27 in La Liga, 15 in just a dozen games in Europe and two in the Spanish Super Cup.

He is now targeting the World Cup with France having not been involved when Les Bleus won the trophy in Russia in 2018.

"I am still ambitious. I would like to go to the World Cup with France," Benzema said.

"There are things that are still left to be done... to go to the World Cup and do everything to win it."

Barcelona's Alexia Putellas, 28, won the women's award for the second year in a row. She edged out Beth Mead, who scored six goals to help England win the Euros on home soil. Chelsea's Sam Kerr was third.

NYTIMES, AFP