A dozen buses were waiting for Les Bleus and their crew on the tarmac to transfer them to the Place de la Concorde in the center of the French capital. From the balcony of the Hôtel de Crillon, Kylian Mbappé and co. applauded by thousands of supporters. Many waved French flags and sang “merci les Bleus”. But judging by the looks of Deschamps’ men, they would have preferred to spend their evening differently…
“I think the most important thing is the recognition, even if we would have liked to bring the cup back to France,” Hugo Lloris told French TV channel TF1. “There is also pride, because we have not given up. Despite the circumstances and the many things that happened before and during the tournament, we remained united. We showed a lot of resilience and remained a group.”
“It’s heartwarming,” added Marcus Thuram. “It is a great pleasure to see that we have been able to make so many French people proud and happy. Before the final, we knew that millions of French people would watch us. Unfortunately we couldn’t win. But what is certain is that these people are proud of us.”
