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Karim Benzema joins the long list of world class players who have suffered an injury during the international break, according to ESPN. The French international will miss the friendly against Denmark on Sunday after injuring himself while scoring the second goal for his country against Armenia.
While Benzema was on a roll after scoring two goals within a minute and getting on the scoresheet for France for the first time since October 2014, the strike injured himself moments after the second goal. Upon investigation from French Football Federation (FFF), on Friday, they confirmed that the Real Madrid striker had suffered a hamstring injury.
“Karim Benzema had an MRI scan this Friday morning which confirmed the clinical examination of the night before and showed grade one damage to the left hamstring,” a statement from the FFF read.
The player was replaced by Olivier Giroud during the match, and it seems like the Arsenal striker will also replace him during the match against Denmark.
France, who had recently lost Paul Pogba, could not afford to lose Benzema to an injury as well. These friendly matches are the only international matches the players will get as Les Bleus do not have to go through the qualifying rounds for UEFA Euro 2016 as the host nation automatically qualifies.
The 27-year old was set to leave the French camp on Friday so he could return to Real Madrid, but now it is doubtful if he can play and might miss the Champions League game against Paris Saint-Germain on 21 October.
The player though was fortunate to be diagnosed with only a grade one injury to his left hamstring – the least serious on a scale of three possible types of injury. Grade one represents a mild strain or pull of the muscle rather than an outright tear, and players can recover from these types of injuries within a few days.
While people criticised him for not being enthusiastic for playing for his country, he said it was false and he, in fact, enjoyed playing for France and wanted to achieve greatness with them.
“I heard and people told me that I wasn't happy and that I didn't want to come and play for France," Benzema told reporters, according to L’Equipe. “That's false. I'm happy when I join up with the national side and I want to win trophies with this team.”
