France and England Remember Paris Victims Before Friendly Game

LONDON (AP) – With a police helicopter whirring above and armed officers on patrol, England and France soccer fans were mingling outside Wembley Stadium ahead of what should be an emotionally charged global friendly taking place four days after the deadly attacks in Paris.

The teams’ coaches and Prince William laid flowers for the fallen on the sidelines and later everyone in the stadium sang along to “La Marseillaise”, the French national anthem, as a few fans and players had tears in their eyes.

“Suspending them would be to do exactly what these barbarians want, which is to upset the balance of our lives”, Braillard told L’Equipe.

British Prime Minister David Cameron was also among the near-80,000 spectators at English football’s national stadium, where there was an increased police presence and enhanced security measures, including compulsory bag searches.

Both managers said that they had been aware of events in Hanover, with Deschamps revealing that he had deliberately not informed his players. “We have fought to the last man for the other’s freedoms, as only twins can”, he wrote in the Daily Telegraph.

“But the result wasn’t the most important thing about this evening”. Now we have to go back to our clubs, every one of us, refocus and recover. Despite the circumstances we wanted to do our best to represent the country.

The French players applauded their fans after the full-time whistle and the front page of Wednesday’s L’Equipe simply read, “Thank You”, following the moving scenes at Wembley.

Sagna said that the circumstances were so trying that it was hard for his team-mates to concentrate and prepare on the match but it was essential to participate to send out a strong message to the world.

Referring to another bomb threat about an hour beforehand that turned out to be a false alarm, Kluwe said, “After the first object turned out to be harmless, we got a tip that had to be taken seriously that an attack was being planned”.

“We’re in a privileged position in sport, and above all in football”. We have a platform. “Even if it does not restore the smile, it was the least we could do to add our support”.

“But, by playing, we were sending out a bigger message”.

Players from both teams mixed together for pre-match photos in a show of unity and then stood round the centre circle as a minute’s silence was impeccably observed before kick-off. Before the game, the two squads came together to pay tribute to the victims of last week’s terror attacks in Paris. They have been in our thoughts throughout.