Heroes’ welcome for Les Bleus
Team to be awarded Legion of Honour, like their predecessors from 1998
The victorious Les Bleus returned to a heroes' welcome yesterday after winning the World Cup for the second time with a roller-coaster 4-2 victory over Croatia which set off chaotic celebrations at home.
Teenager Kylian Mbappe applied the coup de grace in Moscow as France, aided by an own-goal and the video assistant referee, overcame determined opponents in one of the most compelling finals of the modern era.
Mbappe, just 19, scored France's sizzling fourth goal and was voted the Best Young Player of a tournament in which he has shown he is a superstar in the making.
The triumph also put Didier Deschamps, who captained the national side to victory on home soil in 1998, alongside Mario Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer as only the third man to win the World Cup both as a player and coach.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who cheered every goal at the Luzhniki Stadium, was drenched by torrential rain during the trophy presentation and attempted to "dab" with the players in the changing room.
Les Bleus were yesterday welcomed back to Paris, where they had a bus parade up the Champs-Elysees in front of hundreds of thousands of people. They then met with Macron at the presidential palace.
Before that, at the airport, Les Bleus were greeted by cheering crowds and a guard of honour from the fire brigade, which sprayed water over their plane.
Captain Hugo Lloris, flanked by Deschamps, was the first to emerge from the Air France aircraft, raising the famed golden trophy before heading down the stairs and on to a freshly laid red carpet.
The team will all be awarded the Legion of Honour, the office of President Macron said yesterday ahead of their visit to the Elysee Palace.
No date has yet been set for the ceremony to hand over France's highest award for "exceptional service" to the nation.
France's second World Cup title comes 20 years after the team led by captain Didier Deschamps won their first title, which also earned them a Legion of Honour from then-president Jacques Chirac.
PROMOTION
As a result, Deschamps will in theory be promoted from a Legion Knight to a higher grade such as Officer.
While most of France was in a state of euphoria over the triumph, there were some unsavoury scenes shortly after the World Cup win as youths looted a Champs-Elysees store and police fired tear gas on the crowds as celebrations got out of control.
But that was the exception.
"Endless happiness," trumpeted the headline in France's L'Equipe newspaper, while the Journal du Dimanche rushed out a special edition in Paris hailing a team which has ascended "To the Stars".
Deschamps, who was soaked in champagne by his overjoyed players in a chaotic press conference, said the win was "just as big and just as beautiful" as the 1998 triumph.
"There are two things that matter - one is that these 23 players are now together for life, whatever happens, and also that from now on they will not be the same again, because they are world champions," he said.
"To be champions of the world as professional footballers, there is nothing better." - AFP, REUTERS
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