It had been planned as a prestige end-of-year friendly -- but
England's meeting with France at Wembley Tuesday will instead become a
90,000-strong tribute to the victims of the Paris terror attacks.
France
goalkeeper and captain Hugo Lloris told a news conference the occasion would be
"a great moment of solidarity," and said he and his teammates wanted
to "play for our country and for the victims."
And national
coach Didier Deschamps said: "We will be here with even more pride than we
normally would to represent our colors, of blue, white and red, our country,
proudly."
On Saturday,
both the French Football Federation (FFF) and the English Football Association
(FA) issued statements to confirm that the
game would go ahead in the
aftermath of the atrocity, in whichat least 129 people died at a series of locations across the
French capital Friday.
The attacks, the worst violence in Paris since the Second World
War, saw an area close to the Stade de France targeted as France played World
Cup winners Germany in a friendly match.
Explosions,
which claimed the lives of four people, could
clearly be heard in the stadium although
the match, won 2-0 by France, was played to a conclusion.
Security
guards in the area told CNN that one of the bombers tried to enter
the stadium but was stopped by security.
Both the
German and French teams stayed in the
stadium overnight, with acting German FA president Reinhard Rauball
praising the France players for their "outstanding gesture of
camaraderie."
Deschamps, who thanked people around the world for their
solidarity, said: "We heard the explosions, but we were so focused on the
game that we didn't realize what it was.
"We only
became aware at the end of the match, and then we realized what a disaster had
taken place at the stadium and in the center of Paris.
"It is the
very first time a stadium, football players and supporters, have been a target
for a terrorist attack. But sport has a way of uniting people. Sport is the
very representation of everyday life.
"I have
always considered it an honor to represent my country, and that responsibility
is even more important today. Those on the field have a duty of representing and
symbolizing the values of sport."
Fans leaving at
the end of the game, bewildered but defiant, sang French national anthem La
Marseillaise -- and now all those present at Wembley on Tuesday are being urged
to do the same in a show of unity with the people of France.
The words to the anthem will be displayed on the stadium's giant
screens, while the landmark Wembley arch will be lit in the colors of the
French Tricolore. The French national motto -- Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite --
will glow from screens outside the ground.
"La
Marseillaise will be a very emotional moment, very special," Lloris said.
"It will be amazing if the England fans can sing La Marseillaise and share
in this moment.
"Everybody
is aware of the dramatic circumstances that we have had. We have had some days
to mourn. It is hard.
"We have
been touched by messages from all over the globe, particularly in England. I
know the English very well from being with Tottenham Hotspur, and I know they
will help us to commemorate and do the right thing and support us before the
game."
Earlier, FA
chief executive Martin Glenn confirmed that the French anthem would be sung and
said: "I think that will be a powerful thing."
He added: "The eyes of the world will be on this game. It
is important to do something to show that terrorism cannot win."
Michael Adams,
of the FA's official England Supporters' Club, said: "We should all show
our solidarity by singing La Marseillaise along with the French fans. It would
send out a very powerful sign."
The group's Garry Hodgkinson urged England fans to "stand
shoulder to shoulder with our French cousins and pay our respects to those who
sadly lost their lives."
France
midfielder Lassana Diarra, who lost a cousin in the attacks, and Antoine
Griezmann, whose sister escaped the deadliest assault at the Bataclan theater,
where 89 people died, are in a full 23-man France squad that has traveled to
London for the match.
FFF president
Noe Le Graet said the decision to play the match had been taken by "me
alone," with reports suggesting some France players had been surprised to
be told that it would go ahead.
England coach
Roy Hodgson said Monday: "I would encourage everyone at Wembley to sing La
Marseillaise.
"It will be
a tough night, I'm sure, for the French players, but they'll give everything
they can to make France proud."
He echoed calls
for a show of solidarity with France and added: "I've got to say I'm
finding it hard to balance the enormity of the occasion with questions about
the football players. We can't deny that there is something over this game that
is far greater than football."
The long shadow cast by the horrors of Friday means Tuesday's
game will see the biggest security operation ever conducted at the new Wembley
stadium.
After
discussions between the FA, the Metropolitan Police and government officials,
fans are being told to arrive early, with arrangements having been made for
stringent personnel and bag checks and extra security forces around the stadium
and on transport routes leading to the national stadium.
Armed officers
will also be on standby.
France will host
the European Championship across June and July 2016, with tournament organizer
Jacques Lambert pledging that the "necessary decisions" would be
taken to ensure the event took place safely.
But the country's legendary striker Just Fontaine, who scored an
astonishing 13 goals in six games at the 1958 World Cup, has said he believes
France should relinquish their right to stage the event.
The
Marrakech-born 82-year-old told German
newspaper Die Welt: "Any other country could stage the event,
but we cannot. I think France should forgo the tournament.
"I am very
afraid that this black Friday could be repeated. I think we cannot guarantee
the safety that is required to host such a big event. It is simply too
dangerous.
"Do you
really think that people are going to go to the Stade de France in future?"
A minute's
silence was held across Europe Monday in memory of those who lost their lives
in the atrocity.
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