Trivia on Karim Benzema:

After many goals in the French youth teams, Benzema was asked to play for the Algerian national team, on December 9, 2006. He refused, stating that he would rather play for France. He then earned his first cap on March 28, 2007 in a friendly against Austria that ended in a 1-0 victory with Benzema scoring the only goal.

A pure product of the Olympique Lyonnais youth academy, he is very capable of playing as the main striker in Olympique Lyonnais’ preferred 4-3-3 formation, but he can also play on both wings. In the 2006-07 season, after forming an understanding with new manager Alain Perrin, he was given the central role in which he responded with 10 goals in 10 games.