Karim Benzema reveals Ballon d'Or ambitions & how he's got better in his 30s
Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema has revealed how he takes care of himself and shed light on his Ballon d'Or ambitions after his excellent performances for Los Blancos in recent seasons.
Benzema is 34 later this year but in the form of his life for Real, while he has also returned to the French national team after a prolonged absence this year. Considered among the best strikers in the world at present by most, Benzema gave an insight into how he keeps getting the best out of himself now despite his age.
Speaking in a lengthy interview with L'Equipe, Benzema said: "It's been three, four seasons since I realised this need [to take care of myself].
"So there are two solutions when you are approaching your thirties: either you take charge of yourself to take care of your physique, transform your body, or you let yourself go and then you finish your career quickly.
"I take year after year, with the goal of staying on top. If you are physically good, there is also the mind. The technique, you have it. To last, you need the mind and the physique. Football, I've had it all the time. When you get older, repeating the efforts, doing it every three days, it goes through hygiene. At 34 in December, I feel great!
"As soon as I finish a match, for example, I go into the cold bath for five minutes. The next day, I rest a little then I do a jogging, weight training and physical exercises. In fact, I never stop talking to myself."
The forward also discussed being in line for a shot at the Ballon d'Or - which is more open than it's been in years with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi also in their mid-thirties. The pair have won 11 of the last 12 awards - Benzema's Madrid teammate Luka Modric won the other in 2018 - but Benzema thinks it's different now.
"We have to think about it when we have ambition," he said of the Ballon d'Or. "But it doesn't have to be an obsession that refocuses you on yourself, on saying that you absolutely have to shine individually and score goals for yourself. If you have to win it, it's for who you are, what you show on the pitch, what I do.
"This is because the previous ten, twelve years, there was only Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. They were at such a level that hardly anyone could bother them. The situation has changed. A lot of players have shown off without being over the top."