President Emmanuel Macron intervened to ask France’s footballers to greet fans after their defeat in the World Cup final, leading to a brief public ceremony, the French football federation chief said Tuesday. France’s players initially wanted to head straight home Monday after their loss on penalties to Argentina the previous evening, the head of the French Football Federation, Noel Le Graet, told AFP in a statement.France and Zidane are waiting for Deschamps to make the final decision”Under the weight of the disappointment, the sadness and such strong emotions, I understood this choice and I respected it. The situation changed around 10:00 am on Monday after an exchange with the president, who wanted a moment of communion. Naturally I accepted along with the team” he said.Not the champions of the world but it’s not the end of the worldAfter a confusing day of contradictory statements, the French players eventually appeared for a few minutes on Monday evening on the balcony of the five-star Crillon hotel at the historic Place de la Concorde. Around 50,000 people packed the public square to wave, cheer and sing the national anthem, many having waited for more than four hours in the dark and cold. Despite a mostly festive atmosphere, some in the crowd grumbled that the players were barely visible as they waved regally from the balcony behind a wide police cordon.Vibrant !! 🇨🇵❤️🇨🇵Vous le méritez les gars ! #Concorde pic.twitter.com/abDMogwqdS— La Petite Cuisine De Coco (@cuisinedecoco) December 19, 2022 Several French players said they were delighted by the sight of the crowd.”Frankly, it’s magnificent, it warms the heart, it’s a great pleasure to see that we were able to make so many French people proud and happy,” forward Marcus Thuram told TF1 TV.Graceful losers Lloris and Deschamps rue missed chances and congratulate worthy championsReaction in France has been overwhelmingly supportive of the national team which came close to retaining the World Cup despite a series of injuries to senior players such as Ballon D’Or winner Karim Benzema and a virus in the camp last week. Macron’s performance at the final at the Lusail Stadium outside Doha on Sunday has sparked almost as much commentary as that of the team.##NAJAVA_MECA_6899957##The 44-year-old football fan could be seen jumping from his seat during the game before descending to console the distraught players at the end as they crumpled to the turf following the penalty shoot-out. The centrist then delivered a post-game pep talk in the changing room, leading to criticism from some domestic opponents and commentators that he was intruding too much into the team’s space.© Agence France-Presse
