The forward has voiced his frustration at frequent trips to the bench this season at Real Madrid, but his national coach insisted that he should be playing the full 90 minutes
France head coach Didier Deschamps says he will not be taking Rafael Benitez’s approach of regularly substituting striker Karim Benzema.
The striker has been been taken off in six of his eight appearances under the Real Madrid boss and admitted he was frustrated at making way for Mateo Kovacic in the 77th minute against Atletico Madrid last time out despite having headed his team into the lead.
Benzema, 27, is now with the national side ahead of friendly matches against Armenia and Denmark, with Deschamps full of praise for a man who has scored 25 international goals.
“I won’t substitute him,” he said. “Benzema is a team player, he is very important for us.
“He always wants to score with us, but scoring is not everything to him.”
Despite rarely playing for the full 90 minutes, Benzema has still produced an impressive goal return having scored seven form his eight games in all competitions.