Dembélé gains protagonism ahead of the World Cup
QATAR WORLD CUP | FRANCE
The Barcelona winger is pointed out to become a true protagonist in France after the confirmed loss of Benzema, despite others bringing up Giroud again.
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Barcelona
France is still in shock after the confirmed loss of Karim Benzema for the World Cup, the current Ballon d’Or owner, breaking an all feared attacking big three formed by the Real Madrid striker, Kylian Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann of a French national team that will try to defend the World Cup title obtained four years ago.
Today, the French public opinion has one clear doubt on its mind: How to replace Benzema? Boss Didier Deschamps must be thinking about the same thing. And one of the names that most often comes to mind is Ousmane Dembélé. Despite being completely different from Benzema, the Barcelona winger's agility and ability to dribble past defenders mean a breath of fresh air to keep the hopes of winning the World Cup again up.
L’Equipe, one of the most known media in France, titled: ‘Dembélé could benefit from the absence of Benzema’. Following that train of thought: ‘The Barcelona player, a starter in the last friendly match, holds some cards with chances to play against Australia’. L’Equipe also admits that ‘Benzema’s disengagement revives Olivier Giroud, but in the short term it’s really a ‘chance’ for Ousmane Dembélé, because the Barcelona forward knows what it feels like to be left behind, as this very thing happened to him in the Euro 2021’.
Deschamps, who did not doubt in condemning Dembélé for his wrongdoing, is also aware of the change of course the forward has made. Giroud, on the other hand, has his participation in the 2018 Russia World Cup run in his favor, and he’s a natural striker, much closer to the role Benzema played, despite the Real Madrid n° 9 not being as ‘classic’ as Giroud.
A loss as significant as Benzema joins the other two painful absentees: Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kanté. But even in this situation, France still has high chances of running for the title. Arriving at Group D, the French are confident enough to break the curse that eliminates the former champion in the group stage. Its rivals will be Australia, Denmark and Tunisia, making their debut against the Socceroos next Tuesday.
Dembélé enjoys the full confidence of Barcelona’s coach Xavi Hernandez, and that same confidence is what led to the French forward signing a new contract with Barcelona. With some odd conditions, though.
The 25-year-old winger signed a contract extension just until 2024, with a termination clause of 50 million euro -roughly 51 million dollars-, not quite a high price if he ends up having a good World Cup run. Not one club turned out to bring him in once his contract with Barcelona expired, despite not having to pay a single penny.
Dembélé feels comfortable with Xavi as a trainer, but the World Cup only has advantages for him, if he performs well. This current season, he’s scored five goals and given seven assists in seven games, after closing last season as La Liga’s top assists man.