[ad_1]
"They talked so much about 98 but I'm not even born, let's do a new one" 98! " Martin, aged 15, said after qualifying the team this week
The football fever has strengthened over the past four weeks as the country took its young national team to heart , with ecstatic scenes after his semifinal win. On this traditional holiday of the French National Day, many families look from campsites or hotels, while giant screens have been erected in 230 fan zones throughout France, in an exceptionally tight security environment.
expected in Paris where 90,000 will converge on a fanzone under the Eiffel Tower – and within walking distance of the Champs Elysées avenue where are celebrated all national triumphs.
Tuesday, when France beat Belgium to qualify for the final, hundreds of thousands of partygoers gathered on the Champs Elysees.
And if the Blues end up fighting for the gold medal on Sunday, the numbers will probably be much higher
"It's very touching to see all of France united, respectful," he said. said Lea Perier, 26, in the city of Bayeux, in the north of the country, while she was waiting to take a train to Paris to watch the match with friends
. ", Perier's Is found swept into the wave of excitement. And if they win? "I'm going to party in all the streets of Paris," she smiles
"Proud to be French"
Successfully on the ground, a country torn by tensions and again shaken by a series of attacks that have killed nearly 250 people since 2015 has been able to revel in a new sense of belonging.
"We must be proud to be French! We do not say it enough", star striker Antoine Griezmann recalled his compatriots on Friday.
Despite the enviable lifestyle of France, it lacked "joie de vivre" for years, with many surveys finding the French among the most pessimistic of the Earth
. high unemployment, increased public debt and the latest local terrorist threat that has fueled fears of immigration and support for far right parties.
The national football team, most of whom are non-whites, provided a tonic to a divided debate on French identity after their flawless performance on "France is today a France. full of color, "said midfielder Paul Pogba this week
" There are people from different backgrounds, that's what makes France so beautiful. are happy to wear this shirt. "
Such a discussion led to inevitable comparisons with 1998 when France won the World Cup, celebrating diversity with its" Black, White, Arab "(Black, White, North -African) team led by Zinedine Zidane
Political afterglow?
A desperate person for the victory will be President Emmanuel Macron, a fervent football supporter who will be at the Moscow stadium with his ex-president Jacques Chirac enjoyed a resurgence of popularity following the victory of France in 1998, and Macron was hoping for the same thing in the midst of a drop in polls.
A World Cup win "could indeed make it look closer to the voters.After all, football is the sport where societal differences are unclear," says Frederic Dabi, of Ifop polling institute
and a win could spur economic growth, with the sports industry already experiencing a boom. grab team jerseys, with the "authentic" Nike version that was selling several times despite a price of 160 euros ($ 185)
Terror feared
Despite the # Excitement, security will be behind After more than three years of deadly attacks, supporters have often targeted crowds in the middle of the night
France has deployed 110,000 police and security forces across the country this weekend. end, which coincided with the national holiday of July 14, 1965. "Everything is done so that the French can live these holiday moments in peace, despite the terrorist threat that remains at a high level," said the minister of the Interior Gerard Collomb
. Police will carry out searches under a severe anti-terrorism law pbaded last year.
In the event of a French victory, some 4,000 police officers will be on duty in Paris on Sunday evening, and a vast area around the Champs-Elysées. Elysees will be stuck to traffic for the first time in recent memory.
Source link
