The French national anthem will be played second after God Save The Queen and the words to La Marseillaise will be shown on the big screen. Time doesn’t count, it’s true we did leave very late.
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“The last three days were a bit dramatic”.
“In the middle of the night we got to Clairefontaine and we tried to eat and tried to sleep, but I won’t hide from you that the night was a very short night for everybody”. “But, in the end, the president [of the French Football Federation] confirmed we had to play this game”. “The great thing about sport is that it brings people together, and is a way of uniting people”.
The decision to play the highly emotional game was taken on Saturday morning by French federation president Noel Le Graet and Deschamps.
“It’s only human to have a few doubts whether to play or not, but the whole situation has been handled very well by the manager, the backroom staff, the technical team and the FFF president”.
Roy Hodgson: “I’m not sure how to balance enormity of occasion with questions about players and a football match”.
“We are going to try to have a great match”.
Both players have remained with the squad, with the former having posted a message on Twitter stating: “In this climate of terror, it is important for all of us who represent our country and its diversity to stay united against a horror which has no colour, no religion”. “Like all my team-mates, we respect his decision”. I know that they’ll help us to commemorate and support us before the game. We will share that moment together.
France captain Hugo Lloris said Tuesday’s friendly against England will enable his teammates to temporarily “escape” from the horror of the devastating attacks that hit Paris.
“We are proud of being French and representing our country playing this match in a marvelous historical place, and I would like to thank the English people for their solidarity”, Deschamps said. “He’s been very strong, and we’ve all learnt the values of unity and solidarity”.
Three suicide bombers blew themselves up outside of the Stade de France when the national team were playing Germany on Friday evening.
Lassana Diarra’s cousin Asta Diakite was one of the 129 people who died, while Antoine Griezmann’s sister managed to escape the mass killing at the Bataclan theatre.
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The decision was taken out of their hands – France’s players were told without consultation that the friendly against England at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday would go ahead – and now Lloris is grateful for the chance to honor the victims of the bombings.
