France is awaiting today (Monday) the return of its national soccer players to celebrate their coronation of the 2018 World Cup title by defeating Croatia yesterday (Sunday) in Moscow, and winning the World Cup title for the second time in its history after the first coronation on its soil in 1998.
The day after the 4-2 victory over the stubborn Croatian national team in the match that was held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, the plane carrying coach Didier Deschamps' players is scheduled to land at Parisian Charles de Gaulle Airport at 15:55 local time (13:55 GMT). Before the popular celebrations welcomed the elected in the streets of the capital, especially the famous Champs-Elysees Avenue, and the official reception by President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace.
The players will return to their country carrying the Gold Cup, which weighs six kilograms and 175 grams, of which 4.9 kilograms is pure gold, in scenes that will recall the celebrations of Zinedine Zidane and his teammates with the same cup in July 1998.
After the celebration in the torrential rain of the Luzhniki Stadium, the jewel in the crown of the 12 Russian stadiums that have hosted the World Cup since June 14, the French celebration is expected to be under the bright sun of the French capital, whose streets, from the Champs-Elysées to the Champs-de-Mars and the vicinity of the Arc de Triomphe, were crowded with tens of thousands of French. who danced to the beat of victory.
Celebrating with the fans will have a different taste, according to what the players themselves confirmed after they were able to draw the second star on their blue shirt.
Defender Lucas Hernandez said after the victory (Sunday): "We still do not realize what we have achieved, it is very big, when we arrive (Monday) in Paris, I think we will all realize what we did. I want to celebrate with all the French."
He added, "I wish only one thing, is to reach Paris, see these people on the street and shout (Long live France)", while his teammate Corentin Tolisso considered that winning the title "was a dream, a child's dream. We are very, very proud, like all the French, who are on Boulevard "The Champs-Elysées, in Lyon, everywhere. We can't wait to meet them for the celebration tomorrow (today). We are world champions."
Across French cities, the title celebrations overshadowed everything else since Argentine referee Nestor Pitana blew the final whistle, and the French national team achieved a huge victory over small Croatia, which was hoping for the first title in its history, after reaching the final for the first time as well.
The streets of Paris and other French cities, as well as cafes and balconies, were filled with revelers to the sound of car horns, firecrackers and chants of “We won!” We won!” and “(We are) champions, world champions!”
The most prominent of the celebrants in the streets was the young French generation who did not experience the joy of the 1998 World Cup themselves, and did not see the faces of Deschamps, Zidane and others drawn on the Arc de Triomphe, which was repeated Sunday with the faces of Kylian Mbappe, who was chosen as the best young player in the tournament, Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba and their colleagues.
The generation will have the opportunity to celebrate the young squad of the national team, and its coach Deschamps, who became only the third person in the history of football, to be able to win the World Cup title as a player (1998) and as a coach.
Disappointment and pride for Croatia
"It's a very beautiful, very wonderful achievement. I'm really happy with this group, because we started from afar, and it wasn't always easy, but thanks to the work, the listening…they have been here on top of the world for four years," Deschamps said.
The most prominent congratulators for the national team was President Macron, who did not hide his joy at the official platform of the Luzhniki Stadium, and went down to the field, accompanied by his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Croatian Kolina Grabar-Kitarovic, to hand the players his medal. Macron tweeted a sufficient and adequate word on Twitter, "Thank you."
In Sunday's match, the French national team withstood the offensive pressure of the Croatian team full of talent, especially its captain Luka Modric, who was named the best player in the 2018 World Cup.
The result of Sunday's match was the largest in a World Cup final since the 1966 World Cup in England, when the host defeated West Germany by the same result.
The citizens of Croatia, who number about four million, wished to win the title for the first time, and to benefit from the presence of remarkable talents in the national team, led by Modric, Ivan Rakitic and Mario Mandzukic.
However, the French team, which eliminated its Croatian counterpart from the semi-finals of the 1998 World Cup when the latter was achieving its best achievement in the World Cup (before 2018), in its first participation as a representative of an independent country, destroyed Croatian dreams, even if it did not erase the pride of the Croatian fans in their players.
Coach Zlatko Dalic said after the match, "I have to congratulate my players. I think we may have played our best game in this World Cup (…) We are a bit sad, but we are also proud."
The fans expressed their pride in what the players, who today (Monday) also return to their country, have achieved. "Croatia can be proud, we have to applaud our youth," said TV commentator Drago Kosic on the official HRT channel (Sunday).
a. F. B (Moscow)
