Real Madrid players officially learned at the same time as the rest of the world that Karim Benzema would be leaving the Bernabéu, as the club made a statement on the morning of the final game of last season. The French striker, captain of this dressing room and then current winner of the Ballon d'Or, did not gather his teammates beforehand to ceremoniously inform them of his departure. The next day he did not give a farewell press conference like others, but limited himself to a few brief words at an institutional event.
The secret continues to accompany the striker, now in Al-Ittihad in Jeddah, the second largest city in Saudi Arabia (3.4 million inhabitants), on the shores of the Red Sea and, above all, half an hour's drive on the highway from Mecca. Benzema, of Algerian origin and avowed Muslim, was quick to proclaim his spiritual connection to Islam's holy place. “When you travel there, you are in the truth. “You feel good and clean,” he said in an interview with the local league two months after his arrival. A religious profile that in recent months also led him to his umpteenth controversy in France, when Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin assured that “he has a notorious connection with the Muslim Brotherhood”. He denied it. However, he only said briefly about his white past that he thought that after everything he had won, it was “a good time for another challenge.”
His new club, one of the big four controlled by the PIF (Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia), recruited him for 100 million euros per season, but poor sporting performances and some criticism of his game increased his habit of mutism. In recent weeks he has even closed his Instagram profile, although it is expected that he will be able to restore it soon. Al-Ittihad, champions last season, are in seventh place in the league after the signings of Fabinho (46 million, from Liverpool) and N'Golo Kanté (free from Chelsea) and did not reach the final stage of the Club World Cup in their City controversial.
The adaptation
Amid this unsteady development, he was also implicated in the dismissal of coach Nuno Espírito Santo in early November, who was replaced by Argentine Marcelo el Muñeco Gallardo, due to his alleged poor relationship. “The coach wanted more things and it seems like he didn't give them to him. I think that Nuno's dismissal is also due to this situation,” comments Antonio Cazorla (Granada, 58 years old), who has a decade of experience on the Saudi Arabian bench and managed Al-Ettifaq at the end of last season (now is he it). Steven Gerrard). “The players who left are very protected. The basis of this brawl is the stars, they realize that. It's normal for coaches to drop out early. “The guillotine is so sharp that it is difficult to survive,” says this technician, who wants to return to the country with one role or another.
Benzema, whose team has played a few games in Mecca, is the league's eighth top scorer (nine goals, 12 in all competitions), a far cry from Cristiano Ronaldo's 20 in the local tournament. “After so many years, everything needs to be adjusted,” admits Sergio Piernas (Barcelona, 47 years old), one of the coaches of the Saudi Olympic team. “I think he performs well under his conditions. He comes from a top club in the world and here they have put together a team of good players, but one that cannot be compared to Real Madrid. Logically, it has the potential to improve it,” he points out. A time of grace that Cazorla also appeals to: “He had a few ups and downs and also some physical problems. It will be a matter of time.” For now, we will have to wait until February to take his temperature again – in January the league stops due to the Asian Cup – after the year had ended and because of the team's lull (four Defeats in the year) there was a lot of excitement around him last five meetings).
Showers in cubicles
Al-Ittihad is the oldest club in the country – it was founded in 1927 – and an institution with roots. “They go to one of their games up north against a weak team and half the field is theirs. In Spain it would be Athletic or Betis,” says Antonio Cazorla. In sports it is usually below Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr, Ronaldo. “Sometimes in some games you see differences in level from the first to the last game that leave a little to be desired. It doesn't help Saudi football. “The little ones are asking for help,” says Piernas generally.
Aside from what happens with the ball, the reality of the league Benzema now plays in and many other signings who have moved to Saudi Arabia provide unique situations and details to his recent routine. The grass, for example, varies from winter to summer. When temperatures soar, everything has to change and in winter the cold of the desert makes itself felt. “We don't skimp on this,” emphasizes Antonio Cazorla, who mentions some special features of the changing rooms. “The shower areas are private stalls. No one in the cabin is seen naked. They change and wash in these individual rooms. Then there is a large common room. In Europe everyone showers together. And then there is the question of prayer. The players pray before, at halftime or at the end. Therefore the breaks are sometimes a little longer. The games and training sessions take place at times that do not interfere with prayer,” he explains.
It is the new habitat of Karim Benzema, whose landing next to Mecca, where he was photographed (it was not the first time he was there), passed under his usual silence and was burdened by a team far from being in a league works by the elite.
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