Deschamps Rules Out France Return For Ostracised Benzema
France manager Didier Deschamps has ruled out a return to the national team for Karim Benzema despite his superb club form for Real Madrid.
The 31-year-old has however not featured for the French national team since 2015 after he was banished for allegedly trying to blackmail Les Bleus teammate Mathieu Valbuena in a sex-tape scandal.
Benzema was not called up when France hosted the UEFA European Championships in 2016 while he was also missing in action in Russia last year when Les Bleus were crowned world champions for a second time.
"It's a sporting decision,” Deschamps said when it was brought up in a documentary on TF1.
“I simply think that his selection would not be good for the national team.
“Thinking about things in function of what's best for the French national team and what the shirt represents, that's it.
“I'm not saying it would be bad but just that it's an option I'm not looking at."
With the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele and Kingsley Koman to call upon, Deschamps is spoilt for choice in attack.
Benzema made his French national team debut in 2007 and has gone on to make 81 appearances for his country scoring 27 goals.
France are second in Group H of the EURO 2020 qualifiers, level on 18 points with leaders Turkey, whom they meet on Monday.
