In a flash, Twitter exploded with the news that the French soccer representative team confirmed Benzema's injury. The Real Madrid striker said goodbye to the World Cup due to a strain in his left quadriceps muscle, becoming the first Golden Boot winner to miss the World Cup since 1978. Such a change of heart is undoubtedly a blow to the French team. Is the shadow of the World Cup looming again?
Looking back at the 2006 World Cup, the curse seemed to be born. Since then, every reigning champion has met their Waterloo in the group stage. Even the 2014 German team has not been able to escape the curse. In order to break the curse, the German team had purposely used cargo planes to transport potatoes and beer four years ago in an attempt to avoid dietary problems, however, they still faltered in the group stage and even lost in the final match against South Korea. This speaks volumes about the power of the World Cup curse. Now, France, the former champions, are under added pressure as they lose their core center forward on the eve of the tournament.
Despite the fact that France has a deep roster and is the evergreen of the team, anything is possible in the world of soccer. The teams in the World Cup are of equal strength, and with only three matches in the group stage, any mistake can be a fatal blow. Isn't this exactly the story that played out in the second round of the recently concluded Chinese FA Cup? Chinese Super League giants Beijing Guoan surprisingly suffered an unexpected setback in front of Jingchuan Wenhui.
