Karim Benzema: “I don’t know what I will do in the future, but I love helping young footballers”

In what was a rare hour-long interview, Karim Benzema opened up to Zack Nani on his twitch channel, Freewheeling Zack, which released on Friday and saw Karim answer a multitude of questions.

On goals with France in the World Cup at Qatar: “I want to do exceptional things, but I’m not going to do anything alone. It’s extraordinary, a World Cup. I approach it calmly, with ambition, always, but without haste. I don’t tell myself I have to win it. I’m not going to Qatar alone. On my side, I’m going to try to shine, to score goals and make assists. I can’t wait to play.”

The meaning of his Ballon d’Or of “The people?”: It’s my journey, for the young people, for my family and my fans. Because I know they support me in bad times. When it’s not right for me, it’s not right for them. When I won, they won too.”

That paneka penalty: “I had been thinking about doing this for a while, but I was expecting a big match like Zizou did in the World Cup final. The weekend before, I missed two penalties. I had no pressure. I put the ball down and panenka.”

Future as a coach?: “I don’t know, but I would like to help young people, give them confidence and avoid the prism of statistics. Today, if you don’t score goals, you suck. The Zidane/Ronaldo era, it wasn’t just stats. You had more time to learn what football was.”

Best Real Madrid team during his playing years: “2011/2012 - The substitutes scored as much as the starters, everyone played, it was incredible!”

A return to Lyon? : “I left a good image in Lyon, it has to stay like that. You can’t leave, come back. I did what I had to do. Lyon remains my heart club. If I can come back, it will be to work there one day”.