Hugo Lloris believes that Karim Benzema will use the World Cup to showcase his talent and prove that he belongs on the biggest stage in football.
Benzema was left out of the France squad that performed so miserably in South Africa four years ago and arrived at the World Cup having not scored at a major finals, but his two goals in the 3-0 win over Honduras on Sunday night signalled a determination to make up for lost time.
Although Benzema has enjoyed his most productive season for Real Madrid, scoring 26 goals in all competitions for the Champions League winners, his place in the France team was the subject of much debate only recently.
Benzema had failed to score in 15 matches for his country, spanning 1,222 minutes of football, until he registered in a 6-0 win over Australia in October.
He has now plundered eight in his last seven games for France and, in the absence of the injured Franck Ribéry, is the most experienced player in Didier Deschamps’s squad and arguably their most influential. It was Benzema’s penalty that set France on their way against Honduras and he also had a significant hand in the second, when his left-footed shot cannoned off the upright and was turned into his own goal by the Honduras goalkeeper Noel Valladares. A thumping angled drive into the roof of the net rounded off an impressive night.
“He had a really good season with Real Madrid, he won the Champions League final and is in good confidence,” Lloris, the France captain, said. “He played well during the preparation games and he was in excellent condition to play [on Sunday]. He showed that and scored two, maybe three, depending on the Fifa decision, and it was important for him and for the team to start well because he is a decisive player for France. Maybe he is our key player and he showed it.
“When you play for Real Madrid, you have to be a special player. He is still young but he is an excellent player. He has a big talent and for him this competition is the perfect platform to show who he is to everyone.
“This was his first game at the World Cup after being left out four years ago. You never know what will happen in the future. The World Cup only comes every four years and when you have the chance to play you have to take it and enjoy the possibility to play at your best level and do everything for the team. That’s what every player did [against Honduras].”
The victory was France’s first in the World Cup since they defeated Portugal in the semi-final in 2006 and lifted some of the gloom that has enveloped Les Bleus since the antics in South Africa in 2010, when they were eliminated at the group stage on the back of a player revolt.
This time the only off-the-field problem that France have had to contend with has concerned the drone that hovered above the team’s training base in Ribeirão Preto last week, raising concerns that they were being spied upon.
Deschamps described the device as an “intrusion into our privacy” and said that Fifa were carrying out an investigation into the incident.
“It’s a good invention,” Lloris said when asked about the drone. “It looked like a little helicopter, very small and it flew well. It’s a good object for journalists. We heard it and then we saw it. We didn’t see anyone controlling. Maybe they were behind the stand. It didn’t stay over us for a long time. There was nothing we could do to stop it – maybe kick the ball at it. But it’s a big challenge to hit it!”
Asked about Deschamps’s comments, and the idea that France’s privacy had been compromised, Lloris said: “Players can do nothing about that. We can’t have control of the drone. Maybe the guy is from the hotel just behind the stand and you can’t see him. Maybe with a good job of the security we can find him.”