France basks in World Cup afterglow
Under the cloud of terror attacks and racial tension, the victory came at a time when the country was in need of good news
PARIS:“WE are linked for life now with this Cup,” declared defender Raphael Varane as the France team made a triumphant return home after a thrilling 4-2 World Cup final win over Croatia in Moscow.
Joy over the win brightened the Monday morning commute in Paris, where young people in cars sang and shouted. In the eastern Paris neighborhood of Belleville, Vincent Simon said, “Both teams deserved to win. France won, and that’s good for the country. That will do us good for some months.”
The victory came at a time when many French were in need of good news.
“It represents enormous things,” said Goffrey Hamsik, dressed in a hat resembling a rooster — the French national symbol — and a shirt with Mbappe’s No. 10 number.
“We’ve had lots of problems in France these past years,” he said at Sunday’s festivities, recalling deadly terror attacks. “This is good for the morale ... Here, we are all united. We mix. There is no religion, there is nothing, and that’s what feels good.”
The team was scheduled for a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte at the presidential palace. Among the hundreds invited to the reception include 1,000 youths from football clubs around the country such as Bondy, the Paris suburb where 19-year-old wunderkind Kylian Mbappe got his start.
Macron had already celebrated with the team on Sunday — even doing “dab” dance moves with players in a video that has gone viral — after attending the final in Moscow. After a speech by Macron, the party will be hosted by star Paris music producer DJ Snake, who has worked with pop stars including Lady Gaga and is part of the Pardon My French collective of French DJS.
Laurent Joffrin, editor of the leftwing Liberation newspaper, said they had lived up to the ideal of “the republic that we love: united and diverse, patriotic and open, national without being nationalist”.
Macron will be relieved that an evening of joyous and occasionally chaotic celebrations across France passed off without any major incident following a string of terror attacks in France since 2015 that have claimed nearly 250 lives. There were 292 people arrested nationwide and isolated clashes between police and rowdy crowds in Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Several French supporters were involved in fatal accidents, including a man who threw himself into a shallow canal in the city of Annecy.
For Croatia, a country of just four million people, the loss was bitter but their fans took solace in the best run in the nation’s history, which featured a stun- ning win against Argentina and a semi-final victory against England.
“Thank you, heroes! — You gave us everything!” read the Sportske Novosti front page.
“’Vatreni’ (the “Fiery Ones” in Croatian), you are the biggest, you are our pride, your names will remain written in gold forever!” the newspaper said. Six Paris metro stations were temporarily renamed to honour the champions.
Among the changes, station Victor Hugo became “Victor Hugo Lloris”. The metro stop at Bercy has become “Bercy les Bleus”, a play on words to thank the team. MOSCOW: FIFA president Gianni Infantino may insist on having a 48-team World Cup at the next edition in Qatar in 2022 but the host nation will continue to plan for a 32-team event until a feasibility study by the world governing body is completed.
“There is a feasibility study that’s going to be done. There is a process of consultation. I am very glad FIFA said that the final decision stays with Qatar. We don’t want to take any decision now. We don’t understand what the