HEROES ALL
France welcomes World Cup kings; Croatia gives squad champions treatment
PARIS— The World Cup-winning French team returned home to a heroes’ welcome on Monday, parading down the Champs-Elysees as hundreds of thousands of cheering fans gave a raucous welcome to the country’s newest idols.
They weren’t the only ones that got the rock-star treatment though.
In Zagreb, Croatia, in an outburst of national pride and joy, Croatia rolled out a red carpet and staged a euphoric heroes’ welcome for the national team on Monday despite its loss to France in the World Cup final.
Tens of thousands of people wearing national red-and-white checkered colors and waving Croatian flags poured into the streets in the capital Zagreb to greet the team.
The joyful, singing crowd crammed the central squares and the route where the players passed in an open bus, greeting fans and signing autographs.
Police said more than 250,000 people came out in central Zagreb and many more along the route. The players’ bus traveled for hours, often stopping when it was blocked by the crowds.
Similar scenes played out in Paris.
After overcoming a determined Croatia, 4-2, in Sunday’s final in Russia, the French team came back to euphoric crowds in Paris hoping to catch a glimpse of the players that have captured the nation’s imagination.
The footballers did not disappoint, passing the golden World Cup trophy from player to player as they jumped and danced on an open-air bus with “World Champions” emblazoned on its side.
“Wow, it was completely crazy! They are too beautiful, France is beautiful!” said Julia Cohen, 28, after seeing players pass by on the Champs-Elysees, the gathering point for all na- tional celebrations.
The parade was under heavy police guard, with 2,000 officers deployed in the capital to ensure the safety of the estimated 300,000 people who turned up.
Above the partying crowds, nine jets from the Patrouille de France, the air force’s acrobatic
unit, did an honorary flyover trailing blue, white and red smoke.
After leaving the Champs-Elysees, the players changed into custom-made blue suits before being welcomed at the Elysee Palace by President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte, who were also decked out in blue for the occasion.
Macron has already promised the Legion of Honor for the victors’ “exceptional services” to the country, an award given to the legendary team that won France’s first World Cup title in 1998.
“Thanks to you all!” Macron told the team outside after a private meeting. “This team is beau- tiful because you are united!"
Midfielder Paul Pogba, despite his voice nearly failing him, then proved himself a showman off the pitch as well as on by leading the guests in an impromptu celebratory rap punctuated by “Allez les Bleus!"
Nearly 3,000 guests were received in the Elysee gardens, including around 1,000 youths from local football clubs such as Bondy, the gritty Paris suburb whose towering housing blocks produced rising star forward Kylian Mbappe.
Striker Antoine Griezmann said: “Frankly, personally, it’s not real yet. This cup weighs a lot. We are trying to give a good image for France, for French players. I hope that lots of young people will have seen this match and do the same.”
In Zagreb, thousands of fans, many coming from other parts of the country, began arriving in the center in the early morning and emergency medical services said they aided hundreds of fans who collapsed from exhaustion. City authorities brought in water tanks to the city center.
Fans honking car horns, waving and shouting “Bravo! Bravo!” welcomed the bus as it slowly left the airport. The inscription at the front read: “Fiery heart, the pride of Croatia!” in reference to the name “The Fiery” as the team is dubbed at home.