Karim Mostafa Benzema is a French professional footballer, presently playing as a striker for the French national football team and the Spanish professional football club ‘Real Madrid.’ He joined the Lyon-based French football club ‘Olympique Lyonnais,’ better known as ‘Lyon,’ at the age of 9. He made his professional debut in the 2004–2005 season and rose to prominence in the 2007–2008 season, becoming the season’s top scorer, netting over 30 goals, as ‘Lyon’ clinched their seventh league title in a row. He was named the ‘Ligue 1 Player of the Year’ and was enlisted in the ‘Team of the Year’ by the ‘National Union of Professional Footballers’ (UNFP). He signed a six-year contract with ‘Real Madrid’ in 2009 and has so far achieved several feats with the club, including winning the ‘Copa del Rey’ and the ‘La Liga.’ He won the ‘French Player of the Year’ award thrice. His performance as part of the national team is equally impressive. He was part of the ‘Under-17’ team that won the 2004 ‘UEFA European Under-17 Championship.’ After making his senior debut in March 2007, he was part of three major international tournaments, namely, the ‘UEFA European Football Championship’ in 2008 and 2012, and the 2014 ‘FIFA World Cup.’