Guard of honour, red carpet for France
Crowds, president laud World Cup champions
Paris – Hundreds of thousands of ecstatic French fans celebrated the return of their World Cup-winning football team yesterday, jumping and chanting “We Are The Champions” as their bus paraded down the Champs Elysees before a special presidential reception.
“Les Bleus”, a dynamic young team that won an open, fast-paced final 4-2 over Croatia in Moscow, appeared at the Elysee palace, where they burst into a spontaneous rendition of the “La Marseillaise” national anthem with President Emmanuel Macron and his wife.
“Thank you for having made us proud,” Macron told the players in the presidential palace’s gardens. “Never forget where you come from: all the clubs across France that trained you.”
French media spent the day lauding the team’s accomplishments.
More than 300000 people filled the Champs Elysees, the area around the Arc de Triomphe and the Place de la Concorde on Sunday night, partying into the early hours, setting off firecrackers and blaring horns until the sun rose.
“All we want is a wave from the players,” a woman dressed in red, white and blue said.
Newspapers hailed a second World Cup for France after their first victory on home soil in 1998.
“History Made” declared sports daily L’Equipe. Photos of superstars Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Paul Pogba as well as shots of the team holding aloft and kissing the trophy in the pouring rain dominated coverage.
The victory has helped foster a sense of national unity, with commentators playing up the fact the squad includes many with central and north African heritage, even if all but two were born in France.