What mattered was the unity, the defiance and respect shown by both sets of fans and the players on the pitch, with English joining French voices in signing the national anthem, La Marseillaise, while the Home of Football was lit up with the red, white and blue of the France flag and also displayed the French motto, “Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite”.
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Lloris, looking emotionally shattered at the end after a hard and emotional time for the French, said if he had to be beaten by anyone, it was not so bad coming from a club mate. “The performance was not there for us and we had a lack of aggressiveness and concentration”.
According to the The Telegraph, the the actual match will begin at 8:00 p.m. GMT, and below we’ve listed five other things you need to know about England versus France.
And, in this context, it said so much about why the French Football Federation felt this match must go ahead, as a powerful gesture from a proud nation determined to show they will not allow these attacks to impinge on one of their great unifying forces, namely sport. We struggled to focus. “There will be better days than this ahead, for all of us”.
The front page of Wednesday morning’s L’Equipe features a full length picture of players during the minute’s silence with the headline “Thank You”.
England very almost doubled their advantage right from the restart, only for Lloris to react smartly at his near post to beat away Kane’s snap shot, before the lively Raheem Sterling was sent clear down the left flank, but his shot was deflected just past the far post.
We can only hope that this gesture from the world of football can help in a few way. We have a platform. We spent 48 hours together at Clairefontaine watching TV and being on the internet. They have been in our thoughts throughout.
And this was the message on public display for the world in every moment at Wembley.
“It’s very strong.” France’s Lassana Diarra, whose cousin was killed in the attacks, was granted a warm reception when he came on as a second-half substitute, while Antoine Griezmann, whose sister escaped unhurt from the massacre at the Bataclan theatre that left 89 dead, also made an appearance. “The whole evening”, Matuidi added. It was an emotional night for both teams and I think it showed before the game.
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Prince William, who helped lay floral tributes beside the field, and British Prime Minister David Cameron were among the near-80,000 spectators at Wembley, where there was an increased police presence and enhanced security measures that included compulsory bag searches.
